The Doctor and The Doctor Reunited
by Planet of the Deaf
Summary: This is my sequel to "The Doctor And the Doctor" and once again features Ten and Eleven with Clara, though this time Ten is with Donna! Set sometime after the 50th. More adventure, jealousy, hints of whouffle and occasional teasing of Eleven expected :-)
1. Reunited

**This is the sequel to _"The Doctor and the Doctor"_, and once again features Ten, Eleven and Clara, though this time Ten has a companion as well! It's a separate story, but it does follow on slightly from the previous one, which in turn follows on from the _"The Day of The Doctor"_. **

**All characters are borrowed from the BBC TV show, etc**

* * *

"Right Clara, time for another lesson on how to fly the TARDIS" announced Eleven excitedly. "I'll set the coordinates for where we're going, then _you_ can select the time period and set us off into time and space."

"Are you sure she won't mind?"

"I'm sure old sexy is much happier with you now. Aren't you dear? Oh. Well there's no need to use that language. Anyway, I'm setting up the coordinates for the Amplatan Galaxy now; I haven't been there for ages, a lovely place, stunning scenery. All you have to is use this keypad to enter the time period, pull the lever down and Geronimo!"

"Are you sure this is safe? "

"Of course. Nothing can go wrong, just make sure you pick a time period well in the future, say between the years 3000 and 4000, as that's their golden age."

"Well here goes, I've no idea which year to pick, so will choose something at random. Ok, now to pull the lever, a bit nervous about this actually Doctor."

Eleven beamed back in encouragement. Clara smiled back nervously.

"Here we go."

Clara pulled the lever, and the TARDIS set off. Immediately there was a massive bang, and sparks everywhere as the TARDIS shook violently.

"What have I done?" shrieked Clara, hanging on to the console for her life.

"I don't know what happened, but my guess is that we've somehow crossed my own timestream.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a TARDIS far away, Ten was speaking to Donna.

"After the events in the Library Donna, I think you deserve somewhere nice."

"So what have you got in mind then?"

"The Amplatan Galaxy! Never been there before, but meant to be really stunning."

"You've never been there before? All these hundreds of years travelling, and there are _still_ places you've never visited! You need to get out more, dunno what you've been doing with your life."

"Ha, ha. Well, I have been to one or two places, so I haven't exactly been lazing around watching TV for 500 years! But yes, there are gaps in my travels, and this is one. Unless you'd prefer Basingstoke, as I've definitely been to Basingstoke."

"Ok, not Basingstoke, though we could visit my friend Tracy there. I say friend, though she's a former work colleague really. Thinking about it, never really liked her actually, so on balance I'd prefer the wotsit galaxy."

"The Amplatan Galaxy then, let's try the year 3169 as it's a prime number, and I like prime numbers. Here we go."

As the TARDIS set off there was a massive bang, the TARDIS shook around and sparks flew everywhere.

"Alright then, what have you done spaceman?" queried Donna once everything quietened down.

"I don't know" replied Ten "but this usually happens if I try to cross my own timestream, and I've never been here before. So…"

"Yes?"

"It could be a future Doctor. A later version of me."

* * *

"Let's see what year we went to Clara" pondered Eleven walking round to the dial. "Oh. Ah. Oops."

"What's wrong Doctor?"

"You seem to have chosen the same year 3169 that I was here before. If I remember correctly, exactly the same date as well."

"But, but I chose the year and date completely at random?"

"Hmm, interesting. I wonder if the TARDIS helped you choose that year and date. Normally she will do anything to prevent me crossing my own timestream, remember the problems we had landing at Trenzalore? This time, it's as if she _wanted_ us to land here at this time. Interesting, let's take a look outside."

* * *

"This could be dangerous Donna" warned Ten, "if this is me from the future, then we may find out things that we shouldn't know about yet, about my future, about your future."

"Oh you're such a timid old woman sometimes, a little chat with your future self won't do any harm. I wonder if I'll still be on board? I doubt it somewhat, I'm sure you'll have dumped me for someone better by then!" Donna laughed.

"Well I'll go out by myself first, just in case you're still on board and have now got six arms. Or a terrible hair style."

Ten opened the door of the TARDIS and saw another TARDIS parked next to it. Then the door opened and out walked Eleven and Clara.

"Hello Doctor" spoke Eleven, "I'm you from the future, I'm your next version."

"Hello Junior, remember me! It's Clara!" cried out Clara.

"Hello Doctor" replied Ten. "And hello Clara, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't remember us meeting before. And what was that? Junior?"

"Clara" whispered Eleven, "He wiped his memory after we last met, so that he forgot everything that happened. He won't remember you."

"So we'll have to explain everything again?" whispered Clara back. "What a bore."

"Apologies for earwigging, but did you say we've met before, and that I wiped my memory afterwards?" asked Ten. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Oh, nothing of any interest" replied Eleven with his best innocent face on.

From within Ten's TARDIS came a voice.

"Well, can I come out then? I'm always being left out when something exciting happens!"

"Yes, it's perfectly safe" replied Ten.

Donna emerged.

"So this is your future self then? Quite cute looking actually."

"Donna Noble!" exclaimed Eleven holding his hand out. "The best temp in Chiswick, a real pleasure to meet you again!"

"Good to meet you future Doctor, nice that you remembered me. Love the bow tie, wish my Doctor would wear one. Very stylish."

"See, I told you Clara that bow ties were cool. Donna, this is Clara Oswald my current Companion. Clara, this is Donna Noble."

"Pleased to meet you Donna. Do you come from Chiswick, as I've been living around there too?"

"Hmm, a suspicious coincidence, clearly the Doctor likes us Chiswick girls, don't you spaceman!" Donna nudged Ten.

"Is there anything else I need to know about my future self, apart from the dubious taste in neckwear?" asked Ten.

"He likes fezzes as well!" smirked Clara.

"You like fezzes!" exclaimed Donna.

Eleven nodded.

"I love fezzes!" Donna continued. "Grandad, you remember Wilf, he has this fez at home, it reminds him of his time in the parachute regiment in Palestine. I can see us getting on really well." Donna winked at Eleven, who smiled back.

"Sorry to end the party" Ten interrupted "but I think we need to be moving on. It's too dangerous having these crossed timestreams, we could end up finding out information that we shouldn't do. Especially you Donna, I can wipe my mind of this meeting if necessary, but I can't wipe yours."

"Typical, just my luck, as soon as I manage to find a good looking Doctor, we have to leave" replied Donna in a mock indignant voice.

"Eh! Him, good looking? Have you got the wrong contact lenses in today?" Ten spluttered. "I mean, look at me. A vision of style and élan. Whereas him…"

"He's just jealous!" Donna laughed at Clara, who smiled weakly back.

"May I have a word in private Doctor, before you leave" interrupted Eleven.

Eleven and Ten wandered off to Ten's TARDIS.

"I never chose to come to this particular year and date" explained Eleven. "I let Clara chose the year, and she entered a random date in the console which happened to coincide _exactly_ with the one you er I came here before. That seems like too much of a coincidence to me, I reckon the TARDIS directed me to this particular date for a reason."

"So you reckon we should hang around for a bit then, just in case."

"I think so. Old sexy does things for a reason."

"Fair enough."

Eleven turned and scanned his eyes around Ten's TARDIS.

"I'd forgotten about this TARDIS interior, clearly I was roughing it during this period."

The two Doctors emerged, and Eleven spoke first.

"We've decided to both stay here for a bit. Just in case. Not that anything's the matter. No, not at all. Everything's completely fine."

"You're worried about us landing here on this exact date and time, aren't you Doctor?" queried Clara.

"Ok, yes. Never ignore a coincidence."

"So what do we do then?" asked Donna.

"Might as well have a wander. See the sights" replied Ten. "After all, that's why I wanted to take you here in the first place."

"Well lead the way spaceman and, um…"

"Chinboy!" injected Clara.

"Spaceman and chinboy it is then" continued Donna. "Sounds like a great double act, a Timelord version of Holmes and Watson or Batman and Robin!"

"Obviously _I_ would be Batman" smiled Ten.

"You? _I'm_ the senior Doctor around here" replied Eleven, "and _you're_ the boy wonder!"

"Hark at him, when it's obvious who will be in charge."

"Here we go again" mumbled Clara to herself.

"Right, let's go" exclaimed Eleven.

"Allons-y!" exclaimed Ten.

The two Doctors set off at the same time, Clara holding Eleven's hand in a conspicuous sign of attachment, while Donna walked between the two Doctors. The four of them followed a path which climbed a gentle hill, and at the top looked out over a stunning vista, brightly coloured forests of red and blue, nestling under giant cliff faces, taller than anything Clara or Donna had ever seen before. Strange looking birds flew around above the tops of the trees. After admiring this view they continued along the path which led down the other side of the hill, through a gap in the trees towards a river. At the riverbank Eleven pointed out the fish to Clara.

"See those fish? They're unique to this planet. And they taste delicious!"

"You've eaten them? They're a bit ugly looking."

"Lots of ugly things taste good."

"So are we going to eat Strax when we get back?" Clara smirked. "Stewed Sontaran, hmm yummy."

"You know a Sontaran?" Ten queried. "We've just had a massive battle against them!"

"Yeah, they were terrifying" added Donna.

"Yes, but don't worry, this one is fine" replied Eleven. "He's been rebuilt, so he's harmless, well mainly harmless anyway, give or take the odd horse. So what else have you seen recently?"

"We were at this giant library, where Donna was trapped" replied Ten, "but this woman called River Song died saving her and everyone in it. She was very mysterious; it was if she knew me really well. Any ideas?"

"Spoilers" Eleven shrugged and exchanged knowing glances with Clara.

"It's quite weird really, you being here" spoke Donna to Eleven, "as you know everything that's happened to us, and why I leave the TARDIS. You'll know if I get horribly mauled to death by some weird space alien or elope and marry George Clooney instead."

"It's Johnny Depp I'm afraid!" laughed Eleven.

"Knowing my luck, he'll be the weird space alien!"

"Being a Timelord is a wonderful thing, and a great privilege, but there are also downsides; knowing that I'll outlive those that I love is a hard burden to take." Eleven surreptitiously glanced across at Clara after saying this, something neither Ten nor Donna noticed. Clara noticed the sadness in Eleven's eyes.

"There's a bridge over the river" continued Eleven. "Once we've crossed it, the path continues to a cave, the other side of which is a stunning waterfall. We've got time to go there and back before nightfall."

"Will Johnny Depp be waiting there for me?"

"Probably not. On balance, I suspect that there's a much greater chance of meeting a horrible space alien, ready to tear your guts apart" replied Eleven, and he and Ten both growled at Donna. With much laughter the four of them continued towards the cave.

* * *

**All reviews and suggestions very welcome!**


	2. Separated

**The second chapter of my Two Doctor Two Companion tale...**

* * *

The four of them happily progressed along the path towards the cave, before pausing outside, while Eleven warned them about the low ceiling. Armed with torches they then walked through the cave, ducking under jagged lumps of rock and spiders' webs. They emerged next to a wide lake, surrounded by trees and enchanting coves. Above one corner of the lake towered a giant waterfall, its water crashing down from an immeasurable height. The four of them gazed up at its immense beauty and unimaginable strength.

"I should have brought a swimming costume" pondered Clara, "the water by those coves looks lovely."

"Oh there's no need for a costume" replied Eleven.

"Oh, so you're planning for us to go skinny dipping then. I never thought you were the type, but then you don't normally have two females with you. Down boy!" Clara smirked.

"I'm not taking my clothes for anyone mister!" Donna added. "I don't know what you get up to in the future, but don't expect me to join in with your orgies and stuff."

"Donna" Eleven patiently replied, "I wasn't suggesting that you should take your clothes off."

"What, is it because I'm not thin enough for you? Typical male, it's because of your attitudes that women have such issues with their weight, creatures like the Adipose are all your fault."

"Eh? Er no, I um". Eleven looked to Ten for help, but Ten was too busy trying not to laugh.

"I bet if Martha was here" Donna continued, "I bet you'd be very happy for _her_ to join in with your skinny dipping."

"No, no, I er"

"So who's Martha then?" Clara interrupted.

"Um, oh er another former companion."

"You sure charm them don't you, another notch on the ole bed post eh, chinboy" Clara smirked.

"No, not at all!" Eleven spluttered, and looked pleadingly at Ten for help.

"What the Doctor is trying to say" Ten finally added with a grin, "Is that the water is freezing cold. It's only due to the minerals in it that it isn't frozen over. I don't think anyone would want to swim in there, with or without a costume."

"Why didn't you say so Chinboy" Donna continued. "Has the cat got your tongue?"

Eleven muttered to himself, and looked a bit fed up, so Clara came over to cheer him up.

"Thanks for taking us here Chinboy" she spoke, taking him by the hand, and stroking it. "So where next?"

"Ah yes Clara" Eleven replied, regaining his usual bounce, "the sun is just starting to go down, so best be returning to the TARDIS. Don't want to be stuck here when it gets dark. Lots of spooky creatures roam around at night I imagine. Ready to pounce."

"What do they prey on?" asked Donna.

"Humans I expect. We Timelords are far too tough to digest."

And with that they started walking back through the cave. Halfway through, Eleven stopped and indicated something.

"Clara look at this! It looks like footprints leading down this side passageway. Let's take a closer look"

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because it might be interesting. Won't take a minute."

"You're not giving me the option to say no are you?"

"No."

Clara harrumphed and joined Eleven.

"We'll stay behind and keep watch" spoke Ten. "Let us know if you need us."

Eleven and Clara continued down the passageway, which became increasingly narrow and low, Eleven having to duck awkwardly to avoid the jagged ceiling. He ploughed on though, towards what he thought was a dull light in the distance, when suddenly…

"Grab them!"

"Urggh"

"Doctor! What's happeniurgghh"

"Clara, we've been captured!"

"I rughrghh know. Get rughhggh off my mouth."

And finally Eleven shouted out

"Doctor, Donna get out of there! Run!"

Back in the cave, Ten and Donna heard this commotion.

"Chinboy and Clara are in trouble, what shall we do Doctor?"

"They know about us now Donna, there will be a search party to look for us, we can't use the same passageway they took. I suggest we get back to the TARDIS, it'll be safer there while we regroup."

And with that Ten and Donna hurried back to the TARDIS. Once there, Ten spoke.

"I need to find out more about this planet, but first of all I need to bring back my deleted memories."

"I'm sorry?"

"On a previous occasion, I apparently met the future Doctor and Clara, but remember nothing. It's very dangerous knowing what happens to you in your own personal future, even for a Timelord, so I try to avoid it if at all possible, and can delete the memories if necessary to protect myself. I don't know if it's relevant or not, but as this appears to be the second time I've met Clara and the future Doctor, bringing back my deleted memories of what happened beforehand might just help in the current situation. It's worth a shot anyway, and I can always reverse the process."

"How will you do that?"

"I wouldn't have permanently deleted the memories, but rather saved them down to the TARDIS memory banks, from where I can bring them back. I just need to attach these probes to my brain."

Ten reached down from under the TARDIS console and pulled out some fearsome looking probes, which made Donna shudder.

"Don't worry, they're completely safe, I just need to fix them to the sides of my head like this, and we're all ready to go. Allons-y!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Eleven and Clara after being dragged along a craggy passageway were dumped in a locked pitch black room, somewhere in the depths of the cave, with their arms and legs bound up.

"Following those footsteps was certainly interesting Doctor" hissed Clara to Eleven. "Where are we?"

"I don't know."

"Can you see anything?"

"No, as I lost my torch in the kerfuffle and it's pitch black in here. Oh, and my arms are tied up as well, which would make torch operating rather tricky anyway."

"Well your stupid snogbox has really done it this time, sending us to this year and date. I hope she's happy."

"But this is good, she did the right thing."

"How?"

"By sending us to the same point in time as the other Doctor and Donna, this way there will be someone to rescue us. If we had been here at a different point in time, we would have been completely alone."

"But if we were here at a different time, then we might not have been captured at all?"

"Then maybe the other Doctor and Donna would have been captured instead of us. He's an earlier version of me; if he was killed then I would never exist."

"Well I hope they're grateful and get us out of here then! Who do you think has captured us?"

"I think it's the inhabitants of this planet."

"There are inhabitants? How come we never saw anyone outside?"

"They are very secretive. I don't think they are a violent people though, as I have no recollection of the people of Amplatan attacking any other planet. Something is clearly going on which has made them wary of outsiders."

"That's reassuring, I think. In the meantime, I guess we'd better try and get some sleep. Keep still."

"Why?"

"Because I can't use you as a pillow if you're shuffling around. Now stay still while I try and find something comfortable to lie on."

"If you insist. Whoah, you can't rest your head there!"

* * *

Back in Ten's TARDIS, he started the download of his deleted memories.

"Ooh, very interesting. Time War…War Doctor…Queen Elizabeth…Space Blackpool…Nah, you don't want to go there…Roller Coaster…Clara…The Tunnel of Love…"

Donna's eyes lit up

"No, not me…I was captured…The Impossible Girl…she saved my life, oh yes."

Once the download had finished, Ten unplugged the probes and leaned on the console in a slightly dazed state.

"So the Impossible Girl," queried Donna. "Who's she?"

"Oh, that's Clara. Can't reveal too much, but she laid down her life to save me. Well not her exactly as she's clearly still alive, but another version of her, who was just like her, but not her. And she's saved my life at other times too, right throughout my history."

"That's clear as mud Doctor, but by the sound of things, Clara, as well as being younger, slimmer and prettier than me, has also saved your life several times. Kinda makes you feel a bit insignificant really."

"Donna, don't you dare say that!"

"But you know what I mean, I sometimes wonder why you travel with me, maybe you couldn't find anyone better at the time."

"Donna Noble. I choose to travel with you because you are completely wonderful! And don't you EVER forget it."

Ten grinned at Donna who smiled back.

"So what next spaceman?"

"Time to find out what this planet is made of."

* * *

**All reviews gratefully received! Only a week to go before we see how an episode featuring Ten and Eleven _should_ be written :-)**


	3. Oxybortalite

**Chapter 3 of my tale...**

* * *

"Right" continued Ten "Now to do a search for Amplatan, and what's going on here."

"What are you going to use?" asked Donna. "Google? Wikipedia?"

"Nah, you won't find anything there, though to be fair the Gallifrey Wikipedia page is rather good, as I wrote it myself!" Ten grinned. "The TARDIS has information on all planets and solar systems, right throughout history of time, so if I input Amplatan and threats… here we go, oh, interesting."

"What is it Doctor?"

"_Amplatan is a rich source of the mineral oxybortalite_" Ten read out, "_which became increasingly useful and valuable from around the year 3000 onwards. The water sources on the planet have a high concentration of the mineral _– that explains why they don't freeze over – _which is easily obtained from just below the surface. As the value of this mineral increased, the planet increasingly came under threat by invaders wishing to exploit this natural resource._ _As a result of all the mining and quarrying, the planet's already dramatic natural landscape had been made even more extreme, with massive mountains and valleys where oxybortalite has been extracted."_

"So who do think has captured the Doctor and Clara then?"

"I don't know Donna, it could be the Amplatan people, who think that they are invaders after the oxybortalite, or it could be the invaders themselves. First thing tomorrow, we need to get down there, but as it's pitch black out there now, we might as well get some sleep as it's too risky to go outside now. Unless you have any other ideas. Charades or perhaps karaoke?"

"Goodnight Doctor."

"Oh, Goodnight Donna then. Is my singing that bad?"

* * *

The next morning, Clara and Eleven were woken by distant noises from within the cave.

"I guess everyone's up now" spoke Eleven. "Not that I slept much, Timelords don't need much sleep anyway. How did you sleep Clara?"

"Not too badly in the circumstances, though did get woken up after I bumped my head on that chin of yours."

"Well I can hardly remove it can I!"

At this point they heard footsteps approaching them, and the door to their cell being unlocked. Into the room came a vaguely humanoid creature, followed by two others who appeared to be guards of some sort.

"You two will be escorted to face the wrath of our supreme leader" spoke the creature with a distorted voice. "You've invaded Amplatan territory, and are charged with attempting to steal the precious oxybortalite of us, the noble Amplatan people."

"Oxy what?" cried Clara. "What are they talking about Doctor?"

"Very funny" replied the Amplatan, "Acting all innocent, and pretending you know nothing, but we can see through your lies. If found guilty, you will face a firing squad tonight."

"Firing squad!"

"Don't worry Clara" whispered Eleven, "I'll explain everything. We'll be fine. Hopefully."

The two guards untied the legs of Eleven and Clara, and pointing guns to their heads they were escorted out of the room, and along several passageways, deep into the heart of the cave, until finally they emerged into a large and impressive chamber. There they marched past a large crowd of Amplatans to a position in front of a throne, where an impressively attired Amplatan sat in court. One of the Amplatans came up and addressed them.

"I am the Chief Prosecutor of the court of Emperor Kyrtur 14th" he announced. "Bow down in the presence of the Emperor of Amplatan, and tell me your names."

"I'm The Doctor and this is Clara Oswald."

"Doctor who?"

"No, just The Doctor."

"But the other two members of your invasion party, who you warned off so they could escape, one of those you called Doctor as well. How can he also be called just Doctor?"

"Um, it's quite complicated, as we're both actually the same person."

"Stop talking in riddles!"

"It's true; he's me, but earlier in my timestream."

"Enough of this nonsense! Tell us why you were here."

"Well, Amplatan is a very beautiful planet, and I'm a time traveller so I was taking Clara here to see it. To see the natural beauty, the forests and giant mountain peaks, the beautiful rivers and waterfalls."

"Complete nonsense, it's obvious that you're here for the oxybortalite. I know your sort."

"I've never even heard of oxybortalite! What I said was true."

"So you expect us to believe that you came here to show a girl the scenery."

"Well, um you know how it is, when you take a girl out on a date, you take her somewhere nice."

Clara's skipped a beat at this statement, though at the back of her mind she wondered if the Doctor was just using this as part of their defence. She hoped that the Doctor had the same feelings for her that she had for him, but he had conveniently manage to get out of taking her to Space Luna Park, and the promised return trip to the Tunnel of Love, so _still_ hadn't actually told her properly. It had apparently been a problem with the TARDIS that day, though whether it was the Doctor crying off or his jealous snogbox trying to keep them apart she couldn't be sure of.

"If you were taking her out on an intimate date, Doctor" continued the interrogation, "What were the other two doing with you? Two people both called The Doctor both taking girls out on dates?"

"No, they weren't meant to be here. Or rather they were meant to be here, but not at the same time as us. Or to be precise, they're here at the _right_ time; it's us that are here at the wrong time, because we're here at exactly the same time as them. That was an accident, or rather it wasn't because the TARDIS, which is my time travelling machine, otherwise known as old sexy, deliberately chose this time. All very, um timey-wimey, as I really shouldn't be crossing my own timeline, which is completely, er wrong."

"Enough of this drivel" cried out the Emperor, who had been listening patiently. "I don't believe any of what you've said, but don't want to do anything hasty, so take them back to the cell while I have a think."

And with that the guards grabbed Clara and Eleven and marched them back to the cell, where once again their hands and legs were tied up.

"I thought that went rather well" announced Eleven.

"In what sense?" hissed Clara. "They didn't believe a word of it!"

"Well apart from that minor issue perhaps."

And with that the two of them sat there in silence.

* * *

Back on his TARDIS, Ten and Donna were ready to leave, but Ten had noticed something.

"I'm getting some strange readings on the console screen" he mused. "There's something distant up in the sky above this planet. Let's take a closer look. Hmm, it looks like we're not the only visitors Amplatan is going to get today. We'd better go and warn them. And rescue the Doctor and Clara, hopefully at the same time."

Ten and Donna hurried back towards the cave.

"Here's the passageway they took. Hopefully, this path will take us to the Amplatan people rather than a group of enemy invaders."

They passed along the passageway, following the same path that Eleven and Clara had taken. Eventually they heard footsteps ahead of them, and two armed guards came out to 'greet' them.

"Drop your weapons and surrender or we will kill you!" called out one of them.

"Are you Amplatan people?"

"Yes."

"We come in peace, we're not armed. We have grave news for you. Your planet is under threat. Take us to your leader."

Donna smirked at that last line.

"Ok. We will scan you first" replied the guard.

The guards scanned Ten and Donna, and found no weapons.

"You are telling the truth. Come with us!"

"I can't believe you said _Take us to your leader_" whispered Donna to Ten, as they proceeded deep into the cave complex. "That's so corny!"

"You're just jealous _you_ never got to say it!"

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, Eleven and Clara heard footsteps and the noise of their cell door being unlocked.

"The Emperor will see you now."

And with that they were marched back to the Emperor's court, where he spoke.

"Having considered the evidence, and spoken with my esteemed colleagues, I find you two guilty of invading our planet and attempting to steal our oxybortalite. As a warning to all other potential transgressors, your punishment will be broadcast across the galaxy, to show everyone that anyone caught by us will be dealt with in the strongest possible way. I hereby sentence you to death by firing squad this afternoon!"

"Noooooooooo!"

* * *

**Cue titles and music... (always end on a cliffhanger)**

**Thanks for the comments, all reviews _very_ welcome.**

**It was nice to see many of the stars of the show at Buckingham Palace yesterday, including a rare shot of Jenna and Catherine together. Clara and Donna at Buck House :-)**


	4. Left behind

**At the end of the last chapter, Eleven and Clara were facing death by firing squad...**

* * *

"Braveheart Clara" comforted Eleven as the distraught Clara cried out. He wished he could hug her, but his arms were still tied. He needed a hug badly too.

All of a sudden there was a noise behind them.

"Excellent" called out the Emperor, "You've caught the other two. They can also be killed."

"Your Excellency" replied one of the guards with Ten and Donna, "Before you do anything, they came to us voluntarily, and with no weapons. I think they should be given a chance to speak, as they claim they have important news for us, bad news."

"Ok, bring them to the front and let them speak."

Clara and Eleven watched as Ten and Donna walked to the front.

"So you two are also in Amplatan on a date?" asked the Emperor.

"Mister" replied Donna, "We are SO not on a date. What _have_ the others been telling you?"

"Your excellency" interrupted Ten, "I believe your planet is under threat. High up in the sky there is an alien ship, which I think is planning to invade. That's the threat to you, not us. If you don't believe me, I suggest you send someone out to see for themselves."

"Go and search the skies" the Emperor instructed one of his courtiers, who left the room.

"I suspect", continued Ten "That the invaders are waiting for us to leave; they must recognise that the TARDIS is an alien spaceship, and fear its power. It's our ships that are currently preventing the invasion."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because we can help you. I came here to warn you, if I was just on a mission to rescue the other Doctor and Clara, I wouldn't have walked in the main entrance, would I?"

Suddenly the courtier rushed in.

"It's true, your Excellency" he spoke, "There's a ship up there in the sky, it belongs to the Churru people."

"That's grave news" replied the Emperor, "They are a mighty, warrior people. We are in real danger. Untie those two, they are clearly not the enemy."

Eleven and Clara's hands were untied, and they passionately hugged each other.

"Oh Doctor!"

"My Clara!"

"I thought we were done for."

"You're safe now."

"Aren't they cute together" smiled Donna. "Such a lovely couple."

"Yes, the Doctor and his impossible girl" replied Ten with a grin. "We might get a word of thanks in a minute if we're lucky!"

"Of course, er sorry. Thanks, really grateful" replied Eleven. "But how do you remember the words _Impossible Girl_? You wiped your memories."

"I brought them back" replied Ten. "Seeing that they related to the previous time we travelled together, I wondered if they might be relevant to our current situation. It was easy enough to do, to upload them back from the TARDIS."

"Ah. Find anything interesting?"

"Nothing that seems connected to Amplatan." Ten then burst into grin. "So Clara, how did you enjoy Space Luna Park and the Tunnel of Love?"

"We never went" Clara scowled. "His stupid TARDIS developed a fault."

"Is that really the case" pondered Ten, "Or maybe your Doctor didn't want to go, perhaps, for whatever reason?"

"Oh, er, it was definitely a fault with the TARDIS" mumbled Eleven in reply.

"It's quite sad Clara" continued Ten, "The ageing process. It's like an old man losing the ability to drive, I guess Timelords in their old age lose the ability to control the TARDIS, to look after it properly. I wonder if anything else about the Doctor doesn't work as well as it used to?"

"Absolutely not! Everything about me is in tip top condition, especially, er I can't really say in polite company, but you know what I mean, er my er..."

Eleven's stammering while everyone else desperately tried not to laugh, was thankfully for him, interrupted by The Emperor.

"Have you quite finished with your domestic chit chat! Our planet is under threat, and if it is your spaceships that are scaring the Churru people off from attacking, then clearly you can't leave, as it is your presence that is protecting us."

"That's the clever thing, your Excellency" replied Ten. "Both I and the other Doctor have a TARDIS. We can fly off in one to investigate what the Churru people are up to, and leave the other one here as visible protection for your planet."

"Good idea Doctor" replied Eleven. "Plenty of room in my TARDIS for all of us."

"I don't think so old man, we'll use mine" replied Ten. "After all, what if your TARDIS doesn't work again. We can't have a repeat of the Space Luna Park incident, can we, eh Clara." Ten winked at Clara.

"Hard to argue against that logic, Chinboy" replied Clara with her arms folded, causing Eleven to huff and look a bit fed up.

"I can't take the risk" interrupted the Emperor. "After all why should I believe you, when we've only just met? The only way to guarantee that a TARDIS is left here for our protection, is for one of you Doctors to stay behind. You with the chin, you clearly aren't as good in controlling your TARDIS as the other Doctor, so you will stay here, the rest of you can go."

"Me? That's a massive slur against my TARDIS control, which is top notch. And what is it about the chin?" Eleven groaned.

"I can stay with you" suggested Clara.

"No, I need you outside, helping the other two" replied the Emperor. "He'll be well looked after in the guest quarters. He won't be able to leave, but the accommodation is quite comfortable. We look after our guests."

"Ok, your Excellency, we'll be off then" replied Ten. "We'll be back as soon as we've found out anything."

"Thank you."

"And Doctor" Ten continued, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you can't come with us."

And with that Ten, Donna and Clara exited the room, Clara waving back at a forlorn looking Eleven.

* * *

**So Eleven and Clara survive, not a great surprise I guess :-)**


	5. Apart

**At the end of the last chapter, Eleven had been kept behind by the Emperor of Amplatan, while the other three were free to go. This chapter will cut between their separate activities, and advances the plot a fair bit, so was harder to write than the usual fluff and banter!**

* * *

While Ten, Donna and Clara exited the cave and hurried towards Ten's TARDIS, Eleven was led to the guest quarters, accompanied by two females, who looked the same as the other Amplatan people he'd seen, but had pinkish faces rather than the usual greenish ones. Eleven was pleasantly surprised when he got there, they looked very comfortable, and there was plenty of reading matter, plus a couple of 4D jigsaws.

"May I introduce myself sir" spoke one of the females, "I am Warea and this is Tumea. We are here to look after you during your stay. Please ring this bell if you need any assistance or refreshments."

"Thank you" replied Eleven. "The accommodation looks very comfortable. Apologies for the silly question, but I have never been to this galaxy before, and I can't help noticing that you two look different from the other people here."

"Sir, we are from a different planet. Tirumba. All Tirumban people have pink faces rather than green ones. I think they look better, don't you?"

"Oh definitely. How did you come to be living in Amplatan?"

"It's a long story sir".

And with that the two Tirumban women exited.

* * *

The other three reached Ten's TARDIS and entered.

"What do you think Clara?" asked Ten with a smile. "Better than your Doctor's?"

"Different. I wouldn't like to say which one I prefer" Clara replied carefully.

"A very tactful answer" added Donna. "It must be strange going on a different TARDIS and with a different Doctor?"

"Yes, it's a bit weird, it feels a bit like I'm being unfaithful to my Doctor."

"Perhaps we should swap Doctors, it would be like an intergalactic version of that TV show _Wife Swap_!"

"_Doctor Swap_. I like that."

"Well it looks like spaceman here has got two wives for this trip. Let's hope he's man enough to cope with both of us nagging him!"

"Right ladies" announced Ten, "Nah that sounds fuddy duddy, like a pair of old spinsters. Right girls, no that's a bit patronising, erm what do you want to be called, any ideas? Gang? Posse?"

"Donna and Clara?"

"Not very original, but never mind. I've never heard of Churru, let's see what the TARDIS databanks have to say."

"_Churru is a source of the mineral paxybostalite_" Ten read out, "_which became increasingly useful and valuable from around the year 3000 onwards. This mineral is located deep underground, and several mines have been opened to extract it, though this is an expensive operation, as the concentration in the rock is somewhat low and unpredictable."_

"So another planet with a useful mineral that I've never heard of and can't spell" replied Clara. "I wonder what it's used for?"

"Unfortunately the TARDIS doesn't have this information. Only one way to find out more about Churru; time to pay them a visit!"

* * *

"Sir, will you be needing any refreshments. We have a fine selection of Amplatan nibbles."

"Oh hello Warea. Do you have any jammie dodgers?" replied Eleven.

"Jammie dodgers? What are they?"

"An earth snack I'm quite partial to. I guess you've never heard of them."

"Sorry we don't have any. You are not from earth though are you?"

"No, I am from a distant planet far away. But I have spent a lot of time on earth, and am very fond of earth people."

"We watched you and the earth girl Clara, you seem very close."

"Yes, we've been through a lot together. Any chance of some of those nibbles? Quite hungry actually."

* * *

Ten's TARDIS landed in Churru.

"Right, time to have a wander, and see what's going on. After what happened to us in Amplatan, we have to be careful, I don't want any more arrests!"

"Doctor" Clara whispered, "All the people here have blue faces, whereas all the people in Amplatan had green faces."

"Yes, it does make it easy to remember which planet you're on. There doesn't seem to be much mixing between the peoples of the different planets, which is a bit concerning. Segregation often leads to suspicion, and suspicion can then lead to conflict."

"Look Doctor" cried Donna, "Over there, a newsagent. That's weird, go 1000 years in the future, and newsagents still exist!"

"Funnily enough, physical newspapers became very popular again after the year 2500, people got bored with electronic downloads and demanded something physical again. Bookshops came back also."

"Shall we take a look then? The local newspaper might be interesting. "

The three walked over to the newsagent and purchased a copy of a Churru newspaper. The headline on the front was pretty explicit.

_Evil Amplatans ready to attack. _

"Hmm interesting" Ten pondered, then read out loud. "_King Yubba VI of Churru today warned his people to be on their guard, after intelligence reports indicated that the Emperor of Amplatan has plans to invade Churru. A craft has been sent to monitor activity, and is currently located high above Amplatan. 'Any attempt to attack this craft will be considered an act of war and will be responded to in the strongest possible manner_'"

"So things aren't so clear cut as the Emperor of Amplatan seemed to suggest" Clara replied. "To think that my Doctor is being held there to prevent them being attacked, when possibly it is they who are the aggressors. Poor chinboy."

"I think we've arrived in a complicated local dispute Clara. Believe nothing _anyone_ says. Apart from me, obviously. Well most of the time anyway."

"Is there anything else in the newspaper" asked Donna.

"Hmm" replied Ten flicking through it. "Celebrity gossip, sport, fashion, ooh a Sudoku, I like Sudoku puzzles, now if I just get my pen out, won't take a jiffy."

"Doctor, do we really have time for that?"

"Ok, I suppose not. But I'll keep it in my pocket in case we're arrested and have some time to kill."

They wandered around for a bit longer, but saw nothing of interest apart from the paxybostalite mines, many of which seemed closed.

"It doesn't seem like the mining business is doing terribly well" commented Donna. "I thought paxywotsit was important?"

"No, clearly demand for it isn't very high at the moment. Oh and it's _paxybostalite" _replied Ten.

"Perhaps we should ask someone what paxywoxsit is used for" replied Clara, smiling at Donna.

The three of them asked a few people, but nobody seemed to know. Walking back to the TARDIS, Ten mused about this.

"I wonder, do they genuinely not know what paxybostalite is used for, OR have they been sworn into secrecy? All very strange."

Back in Ten's TARDIS, the three flew back to Amplatan. Once they'd landed, Ten scanned the sky to see what was up there, but found nothing except for the single ship they'd spotted earlier.

"That doesn't look like an invasion fleet to me. And Churru was hardly getting ready to invade either. Time to go and get chinboy out I guess. There's no reason for him to be kept in captivity."

* * *

"Thank you Warea for the refreshments" spoke Eleven, "Though I'm not sure about the Nogolan worms. A bit wriggly for my liking. How did you and Tumea come to be here?"

Warea looked around nervously.

"I have to be careful. We were arrested by the Amplatans, and accused of being spies."

"And were you?"

"No, just like you we were here to see the scenery; our planet is ugly, whereas Amplatan is beautiful. We caught a lift on a trading vessel, which apparently had been taking part in some illicit activities. Everyone was arrested on arrival, we had nothing to do with what was going on, and I think the Emperor more or less believed our story, so rather than being executed like the crew of the vessel, we were made his slaves. We can never leave here, but it could be worse I guess, we are treated fairly well."

"What I don't understand" mused Eleven, "Is what this oxybortalite is for, as I've never heard of it. What do they make with it?"

"By itself it's useless. But in Tirumba we have many very clever people. We take oxybortalite, and combine it with paxybostalite from the planet Churru, and using a secret process turn it into _gold_."

"Gold! That explains why everyone is getting a bit twitchy. I suspect that the three planets all want a large share of the profits."

"Sadly, yes. We could all make a fortune if we agree to pool our resources and work together, but instead they are arguments and fights between us. Do you want to see some?"

"I would love to."

Warea approached Eleven and leaned over him, much to his surprise.

"Look at my earrings. Tirumban made gold."

"They're beautiful."

"Come over here Tumea. Show him your necklace."

* * *

Ten, Donna and Clara reached the cave and entered the by now more familiar passageway. There they demanded to see the Emperor. Once with him Ten spoke.

"I've just been to Churru, there's no threat from them. That ship in the sky is merely observing what's going on, as they think you're about to attack them. I demand that you release our friend, the other Doctor, as you don't need us or the TARDIS here to protect yourselves."

"Out of the question. Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's the truth, and you know it. At least let us see him."

"I will grant you that wish, but no more. Guard, take these people to his quarters."

"I hope my Doctor is all right" whispered a sombre Clara to Donna, "It must have been terrible here, I don't know what to say to him."

* * *

Tumea came over to the Doctor to show the slightly wary Eleven her necklace. As she approached him, Eleven uncrossed his legs, and in the process accidentally tripped her up, and she ended up all sprawled over him.

"Oooh Doctor" she cried out, "This is a bit intimate, what will people think!" and they all laughed.

"The other Doctor will be jealous" smirked Eleven as he put his arms around Tumea to help her up, when suddenly…

"Doctor?"

"Oh, er hello Clara, wasn't expecting to um see you so soon."

"These girls! We leave you for five minutes, and and" a shocked Clara stammered.

"Well erm it was more than five minutes, and I know it looks a bit funny, but they were showing me their jewellery."

"You expect me to believe that! _The other Doctor will be jealous_; I know exactly what you mean!"

"No, that was er a joke. I was doing useful research, with erm these Tirumban girls."

"After all we've been through. I should have known better. _You're my impossible girl_, I bet you say that to all the girls you meet, a different one in every corner of the galaxy! To think, I was so worried about you being left behind here, all alone." A tear rolled down her cheek.

"No, no you don't understand! Clara please!"

"I entirely understand, leave you alone for a few hours, and you pick up two local strumpets. Got to admire the speed of your pulling power if nothing else."

"Clara, these are not strumpets!"

"Well YOU must be the strumpet then!"

And with that the distraught Clara exited the room, past the speechless Ten and Donna.

"I think we'd better be making a move sir" mumbled a shocked Warea as she and Tumea made a hasty exit.

After a long pause it was Ten who broke the silence.

"So, er, been keeping yourself busy then?"

* * *

**All reviews very welcome. Wasn't The Day of the Doctor good! A few lines I might have to borrow for my story :-)**


	6. Big sad eyes

**Once more poor old Eleven is in trouble...**

* * *

Clara rushed out of the cave, completely distraught. She had no idea where to go, at first she went to the lake, but all it brought back was memories of teasing her chinboy, or rather the person she thought was her chinboy, but clearly wasn't. Then she realised, there was only one person she wanted to talk to.

* * *

"It's all a terrible misunderstanding" wailed an upset Eleven. "Warea and Tumea, the two Tirumban girls were genuinely only showing me their jewellery, one her earrings, the other her necklace."

"And why would they be doing that?" queried Donna who didn't sound convinced.

"Because they're made of gold. Tirumban made gold. Warea explained everything to me. Amplatan has oxybortalite, Churru has paxybostalite. Individually they aren't that valuable, but on Tirumba they have pioneered a process that combines them and produces gold. The jewellery that they were wearing was made of Tirumban made gold."

"Ah, so that's what's going on" replied Ten. "Nobody on here or Churru knew or has been willing to talk about what's going on; clearly it's all very sensitive. How did the girls come to be here?"

"They're prisoners, they came here as tourists, just like us I guess, but caught a lift here from Tirumba on a ship that had allegedly been involved in something illicit like spying. The crew were found guilty and executed, the girls has their lives spared but have been kept here as slaves. I've no idea whether the crew had _actually_ been doing anything wrong, I can't imagine the trial was very fair."

"The more I hear about the Emperor of Amplatan, the less I like him" replied Ten grimly. "We need to get you out of here. The girls too."

"How are you going to do it? If you use the TARDIS it will work, but will make it very hard for us to return here again. They'll know I've escaped, and will see us as the enemy."

"I don't think we have a choice. We also need to find Clara. Where do you think she's got to?"

"She might be at the lake. Failing that she'll probably be with old sexy."

"Old sexy!" cried out Donna. "Who the hell is that?"

"That's my TARDIS."

"Thank god, I thought it was another of your lovers!"

"Certainly not, I'm not that sort of regeneration! Unlike certain others I could mention."

Donna smirked while Ten looked put out.

"Don't know what he's talking about. Ahem. Has Clara got a key for your TARDIS?" asked Ten.

"Oh, she doesn't need one now, she'll be let in. It's taken a while, but the two are friends now."

* * *

Clara ran and ran until she got to Eleven's TARDIS. She knocked on the door, which opened to let her in. There she slumped onto the console.

"Oh what a mess I am" she mumbled in a weak voice. "Losing my heart to the Doctor, I must have been blind. I guess you see this all the time, eh. All those companions who've come and gone, I bet you've seen this all before, the mad man in his snogbox, with the latest of his female companions. You showed me a few of them that night didn't you."

The TARDIS made a few noises of agreement.

"Quite a selection, some lookers as well. To think that I saw myself as something special. Ridiculous, when I'm just the latest in a long list."

Clara paused.

"You were being a right cow that night, hiding my bedroom come to think of it, but I forgive you for that."

The TARDIS made a few apologetic noises.

"Because you're always thinking about him aren't you. Oh TARDIS, what am I to do. Stay here and be heartbroken, or go home and return to what? Dull domestic life, after all this? Maybe I could travel with the other Doctor, well at least I'd know where I stood with him, he's definitely a bit of a Casanova. But that's the thing, he's not my Doctor. I could never picture my Doctor being like that. But I saw it for myself, it must have happened, unless maybe I've made a big mistake, and he'll be sitting there heartbroken with his big sad eyes. But I definitely saw it, oh god I don't know what I think now." And Clara broke down in tears again.

* * *

Ten and Donna went to the lake, and saw nobody there, so hurried back to where the TARDISes were parked. There, Ten knocked on the door of Eleven's TARDIS.

"Hello! Clara, are you there?"

"Yes" a weak voice replied.

"Oh great, was worried about you. We're off to rescue your Doctor in my TARDIS. I'm sure he'll want to speak to you when we get back."

"Ok."

Ten returned to his TARDIS.

"Clara's there. Now to rescue chinny and the girls. Hold on tight Donna, these short hops are always a bit tricky!"

* * *

Back in the cave, Eleven forewarned Warea and Tumea about the plans.

"Don't wander too far, as we're about to be rescued. It may not make sense, but when a blue box appears from nowhere you need to get in as quickly as possible as we don't have much time."

"But that doesn't make any sense" replied Tumea, "How can a blue box appear from nowhere, and how will we all fit inside?"

"You'll have to take my word on this. It's a spaceship. We'll be taking you home."

"I don't know why I trust you Doctor, as we hardly know you" spoke Warea, "But you have honest eyes, and after what's happened to us here, any chance to escape must be better than the alternative."

All of a sudden the wind picked up and with the wheezing noise that the Eleven had heard a million times, Ten's TARDIS materialised in the middle of the room, in front of the astonished Warea and Tumea.

"Quick, get in" encouraged Eleven to them. "It's just as I told you."

"None of this makes sense" replied Warea, "But, what the hell!"

The three of them entered the TARDIS.

"It's, it's bigger on the inside!" cried out Tumea.

"You're not the first person to say that" replied Ten. "Or even the ten thousand and first come to think of it. But you can't beat the old lines. Time to get out of here."

The TARDIS left the cave and materialised again next to Eleven's TARDIS. Eleven opened the door.

"Look outside" encouraged Eleven.

Tumea and Warea warily walked outside.

"We've moved!" cried out Tumea. "How can this be possible?"

"I'm a time traveller" replied Eleven. "So is the other Doctor, actually he's the same as me, just earlier in my timestream, and wearing sand shoes. And ridiculously skinny. We move in Time and Space, and can go anywhere we please across all universes and forward and backwards throughout history. Taking you home to Tirumba will be a pleasure. Nothing gets in the way of a Timelord!"

Eleven walked to the door of his TARDIS.

"Except the door won't open, that's funny, er that can't be right. Clara, are you there? What have you done?"

"Oh hello Doctor" replied Clara. "I didn't do anything; I came back here and had a chat with your TARDIS. Girl to girl, in a manner of speaking. Maybe old sexy locked you out."

"Hey sexy, come on, you can't lock me out, we need to get out of here. Open up!"

Eleven rushed back to Ten's TARDIS.

"I can't get in; my TARDIS has locked me out."

"Maybe you were right about older Timelords losing the ability to control their TARDIS" smirked Donna to Ten. "And not something that Viagra can treat either!"

"No, No! I think it must be something Clara said to her, she's now gone and locked me out. Got any ideas" replied a desperate Eleven.

"Hmm, tricky one. Can't say I've ever been locked out by my TARDIS before" replied Ten. "Though we really do need to be getting out of here pronto before the Emperor sends out troops to find us."

"Let us help" interrupted Warea. "We can speak to Clara, I think I know what to say."

"Worth a try I guess" shrugged Ten.

Eleven and the two Tirumban girls walked over to Eleven's TARDIS and knocked on the door.

"Hello Clara" called out Warea, "It's Warea and Tumea here, the two Tirumban girls you saw earlier. Can we talk to you please?"

"And why would I want to talk to you?"

"Because we can help."

"I presume the Doctor is with you, trying to get you to lie on his behalf no doubt" Clara spoke confidently, though inside she was nowhere near as sure of herself.

"He is here, but he never asked us to speak. Clara you must understand, that nothing happened between us and the Doctor. Your Doctor. It was all an accident, Tumea tripped on his leg and fell on him. We were only near him because we wanted to show him our jewellery, he needed to see it as it's made of Tirumban gold from our planet, and it is the production of this gold on Tirumba which is causing the problems in this galaxy, as the constituent ores come from Amplatan and Churru. Everyone want the profits, nobody wants to share the income. We were held as slaves by the Emperor of Amplatan, I believe he is up to no good."

"Yes, I er think I understand" replied Clara softly. Inside she was in turmoil.

"Oh, and one final thing. Tumea and I, we are more than just good friends. Our bond is much stronger than that, your Doctor is a fine man, but we have no interests in him in that way. Or indeed any other man. Your Doctor is a good and honourable man who will take us back to Tirumba."

"Ah. TARDIS, can you open the door please, I think there may have been a slight misunderstanding."

And with that the TARDIS door opened and a nervous Eleven walked through, to be swallowed in an almighty Clara hug.

"Oh chinboy" she sobbed, "What have I done, will you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, oh Clara, I thought I'd lost you. But you're safe and back now. Besides, we've got two visitors with us, and I think they're looking forward to going home."

Clara looked round to see Warea and Tumea holding hands by the door.

"Oh, er, hi" she mumbled awkwardly.

"Hello."

"All set to go!" Eleven cried out.

"Aye aye captain!" came the reply from Ten on his TARDIS, and the two TARDISes set off.

A few seconds later they landed.

"Home sweet home" Eleven announced. "Tirumba."

Eleven and the two Tirumban girls walked outside.

"We're home!" Warea cried out as she and Tumea hugged and leapt for joy. "Thank you Doctor. And thank you Doctor" she added seeing Ten standing by the door of his TARDIS.

"Are you coming outside Clara?"

"No, that's fine. You deserve to say your goodbyes without me getting in the way."

The three of them continued walking slowly away from the TARDIS.

"I have to say" smiled Eleven, "That I had no idea that you two were together in that way. I hope you have a very happy life together."

"We're not" replied Warea. "I have a boyfriend. He works in the factory that makes the Tirumban gold, it was him who bought me these earrings. You can see the factory over there."

"Eh?"

"I know how much Clara means to you, and it's pretty obvious how much you mean to her, and if a little white lie helps bring you back together, then after all you've done for us, it was well worth it."

"Thank you!" Eleven beamed as he and the girls embraced. "What will you do now?"

"Well we have families waiting to see us again" replied Tumea. "They will be in for a shock! And you?"

"Not sure, I think we might hang around here for a bit, to find out a bit more about what's going on. Might pay a visit to the factory where your boyfriend works perhaps. I don't think we'll be welcome back on Amplatan for sure!"

And with that they said their goodbyes, and a whistling Eleven walked back to his TARDIS.

* * *

**I was going to end the chapter on a cliffhanger, but in the end decided to finish on a happy note for Eleven for once! **

**And yes, I did paraphrase a few lines from Day of the Doctor, and not just the insults! I also referenced the "Clara and the TARDIS" minisode...**


	7. Tirumba

**A quiet evening in with a cold means another update, yay! (no I'm not after sympathy)**

* * *

The next morning Ten and Donna rapped on the door of Eleven's TARDIS, which Clara opened.

"Good morning" Donna exclaimed, "Rise and shine! And how are we this morning?"

"Good thanks" replied Clara, "Feeling much better this morning, last night we went straight to bed when chinboy returned."

Donna smirked at this.

"I mean, we went straight to _sleep_. In our own bedrooms. Chinboy did make breakfast this morning though, which was nice. Well different anyway. Fish fingers and porridge, he wanted to try a new combination."

"And what was it like?"

"I think you can guess". Clara pulled a face.

Once they had all reconvened outside, Eleven explained to them his plan.

"That factory over there is where the magic process takes place, taking the ores from Amplatan and Churru, and converting them into something that has been treasured by peoples throughout history."

"Chocolate? Take That?"

"No Donna, gold. Alchemy, 32nd century style. It's all very exciting."

"Do you remember Zosimos of Panopolis chinny?" added Ten.

"Oh, yes, the great 4th century pioneer of alchemy. That day we saved him from the attack of the Bargoulis was quite a day."

"What a guy. And we were pretty damn good as well."

"Ahem gentlemen", interrupted Donna, "I don't think we've got time to relive all your greatest hits today."

"Fair point, it would take FAR too long!" exclaimed Ten, high fiving Eleven.

"Maybe we'd better start walking" Clara suggested to Donna, "And leave these two behind to fanboy each other."

"Alright" replied Eleven, "We get the message. Besides, there's plenty of time this evening."

They set off towards the factory, Eleven and Clara hand in hand, which didn't go unnoticed. Once there they found the main entrance and walked in. Just before they reached the reception desk, they were interrupted by a man who had run across to greet them.

"It's the Doctors isn't it?"

"Yes, it's us."

"Oh thank you, oh thank you for what you did. For rescuing my girlfriend Warea from that terrible Emperor of Amplatan."

"Your girlfriend?" asked a surprised Clara.

"Yes, we've been going out for two years now. I thought I'd lost her forever. Oh sorry, my name is Pilumo, you must be Clara?"

"Yes" replied Clara, folding her arms and glaring at Eleven, who looked a bit sheepish.

"Then you must be Donna" replied Pilumo.

"The one and only!"

"Great" continued Eleven awkwardly, "So, er how's business then?"

"Not good I'm afraid. Supplies of oxybortalite are running low, and without it our production is grinding to a halt. I can take you to the CEO, he'll be able to explain more."

Pilumo led them down a surprisingly traditional looking corridor to the CEO's office.

"Yes", the CEO explained, "It's really frustrating. We just can't get enough oxybortalite from Amplatan to satisfy a fraction of the demand for our gold, and in recent months the supply has really dropped off. I don't understand why, their planet is full of the stuff. I think there's a big political game going on here, and we're trapped in the middle. Soon, we're going to have to lay off workers, as there's nothing for most of them to do."

"So have you any idea why the supply of oxybortalite has reduced so much recently?" replied Ten.

"No, maybe you should have a word with our leader, the Emir. Perhaps he might have more idea what's going on. I'll fix up an appointment for you."

The CEO spoke to the Emir's office.

"You can see him at 2pm. This is the address of his Palace. It's walking distance from here."

Once outside the factory, Clara turned on Eleven.

"So this girl Warea, who has no interest in men, has had a boyfriend for two years!"

"Er, um…"

"All these lies you get people to say for you."

"No, no I never asked her to say anything. I think she only added that to make you think, er believe."

"Believe all those lies?"

"No. Clara. Everything she said last night was the truth. Well apart from that bit about her not wanting men, which was an embellishment I admit."

"But why would she make things up?"

"I think er, she can see that you, um, like me, and that I er, like you, and that she sort of thought that we were sort of together and didn't want anything to get in between, er us. Clara, please, nothing happened in the cave, and that is the truth."

"And why should I believe you?"

"May I have word Clara" interrupted Donna. "Doctor, Chinboy Doctor, I like him very much, he's quite cute in a weird way, and the bow ties are cool. But, the idea of the geeky giraffe going around chatting up the birds, I find hard to believe. My Doctor yes. I mean, look at that hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?" replied a put out Ten.

"Nothing, but that's the hair of someone who spends just a _little bit_ too much time in front of the mirror each morning. You know the type. My Doctor would charm the birds from the trees, your Doctor would probably explain to the birds how photosynthesis works, and the chemical composition of bark. I think he's telling the truth."

The two Doctors huffed at Donna's explanation, but Clara seemed happier.

"Thanks for that Donna, and you know what, I think you've got a point. I may just believe you chinboy."

And with that she stroked him on the face.

"I've always been good at sorting out relationships" Donna explained to Ten. "I remember when Alice, one of the other temps had loads of problems with her boyfriend and was always crying on my shoulder, and then there was Trish from IT and Kevin from accounts, who were _so_ made for each other, but nobody wanted to make the first move, so yours truly had to find a way of pairing them up. Oh and then there was Sunita…"

* * *

Just before 2pm, the four of them walked up to the gates of the Emir's palace.

"I must admit" pondered Donna, "I was expecting something grander. For a powerful leader, this seems pretty small."

"I don't think this planet is very rich" replied Eleven. "It's good I guess that the leader isn't squandering the wealth on himself."

After introducing themselves at the gate, they were asked to walk through to a reception room, where a courtier took them down a short corridor, and introduced them to the Emir.

"My sincere greetings to you all. I have heard all about the incredible rescue of the two girls trapped in Amplatan, and on behalf of the people of Tirumba, I send our fulsome thanks. I apologise that my palace isn't very grand, but we aren't a rich planet. We are banking on production of our gold to boost income here."

"Yes" replied Eleven, "That is something we are interested in, having been to all three planets. It seems that supplies of oxybortalite aren't coming though, and that your factory is running out of raw materials."

"It's very frustrating, we have massive demand for our gold, Amplatan have vast supplies of oxybortalite which would otherwise go to waste, but are restricting supply of it to us. It's not as if it's hard to extract either, as the ore is everywhere. The Churru people have to dig deep mines to get their paxybostalite out, and now they're having to mothball mines as well, as without the oxybortalite from Amplatan, we have no need of their product."

"So what you think the Emperor of Amplatan is playing at? What is he trying to achieve?"

"I don't know. If all three of us work together on this, we can all share in the profits, but I suspect that he's not happy with that. I think he's throwing his weight around to win a bigger share of the income. Things have come to a head, the only way to resolve this is for me and the leaders of Amplatan and Churru to sit around a table and thrash out a solution. They have accepted my invitation, and will be here in two days' time."

"Do you mind if we hang around for that visit?" asked Ten. "As honest third party brokers, so to speak."

"I have no problem with that, though the Emperor may think differently."

Walking out of the palace, the four of them considered their position.

"We definitely have to stay for the meeting" mused Ten, "though it does mean another day and a half here. I guess chinny and myself will _just_ have to go through more of our greatest hits to fill the time!"

"Good idea sand shoe boy" replied Eleven. "But where do we start? Maybe we should start at the beginning, and relive our glories in chronological order, but then as a time traveller, what is chronological order? What do you think Clara?"

"I feel a sudden urge to lock myself in the kitchen for two days and perfect my mother's soufflé recipe. I'm sure Donna will be happy to join me. Anything to avoid their reliving of the past, eh."

"You can say that again" replied Donna. "A whole day of these two fangirling each other, eugh. _Oh Doctor, you were so brave then, oh Doctor weren't you brilliant that time_. _Oh, show me your sonic screwdriver big boy, oh it's so long and straight, and sticks out at the end_. _And the way you control your TARDIS with those manly inputs to her controls, caressing her central console, and taking her to the edge of the universe_."

"Ok, ok, we get the message" replied a resigned Ten. "But we still have a lot of time to kill. Any ideas?"

At that moment they heard a shout and looking up they saw Warea and Pilumu, who rushed over.

"Hey" cried out Pilumu, "How did the meeting with the Emir go? We heard that our CEO had arranged a meeting for you with him."

"It went well" replied Eleven. "We'll be here for a while now, as there's a big get together in two days' time, with the leaders of the three planets meeting to iron out the problems. Your Emir has invited us to attend."

"So you have to time to spend here" said Warea. "Fancy a night out, a bit of local hospitality? The local cocktails are very good!"

"Well you promised me cocktails on the moon chinboy" replied Clara, "And I'm still waiting, so I'm definitely up for it."

"This definitely sounds more like it" added Donna. "Will there be music? I do like to strut my stuff."

"Oh definitely" replied Pilumu. "One of my friends is in a band, they have a unique style of music."

"And I have a unique style of dancing!" added Eleven. "Who da man!"

* * *

**My previous chapter ended a bit too neatly, with no cliffhangers at all. This one doesn't either, but gives me the chance to follow it with some drunken, party fluff and anguish next time, which sounds right up my street! To be followed by the serious plot developments no doubt...**

**All reviews and suggestions very welcome.**


	8. Cocktail night

**Our heroes have a night out, cocktails and embarrassment :-)**

* * *

They had agreed to meet Warea and Pilumo at 8pm, so had the rest of the afternoon to relax and get ready. Clara spent ages to find the right dress, as she wanted to make sure she made the right impression. Eventually she emerged to find the patiently waiting Eleven leaning against his console. The look of pleasure (and was that a hint of desire?) on his face made her feel happy that her choice of dress, a clingy red number, had made the right impression. Outside they met the other two.

"Donna Noble" exclaimed Eleven, "You look up for a good night!"

"Yeah, well I do like a little boogie. Back home I like to go out with my mates, strutting our stuff, targeting some innocent man for our attentions. Fiddling with his bow tie…"

Meanwhile Ten had spotted Clara.

"If I may say so, you look stunning Clara. Hoping to pick up a strange alien tonight?" he smirked.

Clara pretended to not understand what he meant…

* * *

As they walked along together, Donna and Clara compared experiences.

"It's such a rarity getting a normal night out when you're with the Doctor" confided Clara, "As something always happens."

"Sadly true, you're just settling down with your first glass of Chardonnay, when suddenly you're under alien attack, and about to get your brains sucked out."

"It's almost as if the Doctor arranges some sort of emergency to avoid spending evenings doing normal human social activity."

"I can believe that. _Oh god, this movie is dull, let's arrange a Cyberman attack_."

"Or _this conversation is getting too personal, let's spot something dangerous that urgently needs investigating_…"

"Well I don't care if we're under attack from Daleks or Sontarans, nobody is going to stop Donna Noble from hitting the Tirumban cocktails tonight!"

At 8pm they met Warea and Pilumo outside Tirumba's top nightspot, The Zadro Bar.

"I think it will be a good night tonight" enthused Pilumo. "The band will on at 10, so we've got time to grab a table and get some food. And sample the local cocktails of course! Tumea and some of our other friends will be here as well."

They found a table next to the dance floor, and Warea ordered some local specialities. While they were waiting for these to arrive, Tumea passed around the cocktail menu, which was like nothing Donna and Clara had ever seen before.

"Ah yes, Yatrixy cocktails" enthused Ten, "Exotic fruits and herbs from all over the galaxies, mixed with the local spirits, distilled from the sap of the Buxbux tree, and the famous Churru liqueurs, which are flavoured with honey collected from the hives of the Wiquo bee."

"Quite a kick on them I recall" continued Eleven. "So be careful. The Doctor and I, we can handle them as we have centuries of experience."

"Don't expect us to carry you back!" laughed Ten.

"Typical men" Donna added to Clara, "Bigging up their drinking capabilities. I bet they're both complete lightweights!"

"These cocktails sound amazing, though the names are a bit mundane" Clara pondered.

"Yes" replied Ten, "People here have different naming customs."

A few minutes later the first cocktails arrived, Clara starting with a _Slow walk in the park_, Donna had a _Dull day in the rain_, Ten a _Pink snail_ and on Warea's recommendation, Eleven tried a _Small suburb iced tea_. All went down very nicely, and soon the four of them had another one to further explore the menu, then another one…

The food arrived just in time, though wasn't exactly what Clara and Donna probably fancied at that point. However, both of them were hungry, so did try to give Tirumban sautéed slugs and deep fried Jojo seeds a chance. The former were surprisingly nice, especially as the two weren't told what it was they were eating…

At last at 10pm, the band came on. With the music came an influx of people, including Tumea and the rest of Warea and Pilumo's friends, and the dance floor quickly filled up. The music was decidedly unusual to the earth ears, and the dancing equally exotic. Eleven was enjoying it though.

"Come on Clara, let's hit the dance floor!"

Clara had never seen Eleven dance before, so the full extent of his drunken giraffe repertoire came as a shock to her, and made her conventional moves seem a bit dull. Eleven clearly thought so as well, so grabbed her hands and started twirling her around, much to the amusement of the local people, who cheered them on.

Eventually a dizzy Eleven and Clara fell back into their seats, and both took a large slurp from the same _Pink Snail_, before slumping next to each other in a fit of giggles. In the meantime, a reluctant Ten was being dragged out from his seat by Warea and Tumea.

"This man flew his magic box in to save us!" upon which he was mobbed by their female friends, and made to dance with them. Afterwards when he sat down they all gathered around him, and passed across exotic drinks while he regaled them with tales of his past deeds.

Donna in the meantime had rather been left by herself, until Pilumo and some of his male friends came over and invited her to join them on the floor, which she was very happy to do. They taught her some of the local dance moves, which she proudly showed off to Clara and Eleven.

"They call this the earwig!" cried out Donna. "I must remember this, next time I'm out in Hammersmith. Stacey will be well impressed! And look at the pecs on him!"

"What a lovely evening" slurred Clara to Eleven, in between slurps from a shared _Smelly swamp_. "Why can't all our adventures be like this? Cocktails, music, dancing, no life threatening monsters."

"I don't know" replied Eleven. "I guess it's my role in life to be always on the run, to be always trying to save people or myself. It's rare when I get the chance to stop and relax. And share a dangerously strong cocktail with my impossible girl."

"Better make the most of tonight then. Come on chinboy, back on the dance floor!"

Eleven and Clara resumed their rather random twirling, along with some of Eleven's own unique moves that Clara tried to copy, much to the amusement of everyone.

After another hour of dancing and cocktails, it was time for the final dance, and the band struck up a bit of smoochy music.

"Coomon chinboy" mumbled a wobbly Clara, "This is the final dance. It's the slow, romantic number so no flailing around."

But there was no danger of that, as Eleven could barely muster up the coordination to stand up, and was very happy to hold on to Clara, the two propping each other up on the dance floor as they swayed around.

"Clarrra, I nevva wanna le' you go" he slurred, "Cos I'll fall over if I do! But not only that, oh no, I wanna hold you fore'er, and ne'er le' you go. I luv you."

"I love you too Doctor."

The two of them bumped into Donna, who was enjoying a final dance with one of the locals.

"Fancy bumping into you two here!"

"Surry, I'm a bit pished. I like cocktails, cocktails are cool…"

Having said their goodbyes outside, the four of them started a slow drunken walk back to the TARDISes, Clara and Eleven holding each other up, with Ten and Donna staggering along on shortly behind.

Outside his TARDIS Eleven bid Ten and Donna goodnight.

"Guudnight, time to ge' Clarrra inner bed. She canna hold her drinky, nolike me the Ducktor."

And with that Eleven and Clara staggered into their TARDIS. Inside, the lights in the corridor leading to Clara's bedroom were clearly lit (the TARDIS was feeling sympathetic to them), and the two followed them.

"Ah, here weare, ma impobbisle girl, your room, I'll drop ya on the bed then find ma own room…"

* * *

Many hours later Clara woke with a throbbing head, and needing to visit the bathroom. There was also this strange pressing sensation on her stomach. Then she noticed, it was Eleven's arm. He'd clearly collapsed here and never made it back to his own room.

Clara smiled to herself. Then Eleven groaned and turned in his sleep, and his arm shifted slightly to rest directly on Clara's chest. _Down boy_, she thought to herself then smirked at what Eleven's reaction would be when he woke up. Which wasn't long. Clara heard a groaning from Eleven, some half asleep mumbling then

"Aaaaaaarrrgghhhh" as Eleven jumped up. "I'm in your bedroom Clara, I slept on your bed next to you, next to your body on your bed, and my er arm resting on your, er um, er."

"There is such a thing as too keen you know!"

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea, and god my head hurts. I don't remember a thing about last night, well I remember showing you my brilliant dancing at the start, but then it's all blank."

Clara realised that he no recollection of telling her that he loved her.

"Never mind Doctor, I think we all had too much to drink last night. It was a good evening though."

"I think I'd better be getting back to my own bed. I might be there for some time as well" Eleven groaned.

Eleven slowly walked back to his room, leaving a disappointed Clara behind, but as she was coming back from the bathroom, she heard Eleven knocking on the door.

"Oh hello chinboy, come to share my bed again?"

"No, NO! Actually, I can't go back to my room because it's occupied."

"Occupied?"

"Come and have a look."

They walked back to Eleven's room, and there slumped prostrate across his bed were Ten and Donna. Clara desperately tried to stop herself laughing out loud. And failed. The noise woke Donna up, who groaned under her breath then

"Aaaaaaaagggghhhh. I'm in bed with spaceman" as she leapt up.

"W-what's going on" Ten mumbled, then he saw Donna. "Ah. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Not sure what happened there."

He looked around at the room, then noticed the smiling Eleven and Clara.

"Don't tell me. This isn't my TARDIS either."

Eleven shook his head.

"Well, they're easily confused I guess" smirked Clara.

"I've no idea why we followed you into your TARDIS. But then a lot of last night is quite hazy."

A thought then crossed Ten's mind.

"By the way Doctor, since we took your room, where did YOU sleep last night?"

"I er found somewhere. And, if you two could go back to your own TARDIS" announced Eleven, "I'd like my bed back please. And don't disturb me until this evening!"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed that chapter, a nice interlude for me from the main plot of the story! **

**All comments very welcome.**


	9. Pizza with the King

**Apologies for the slight delay before this chapter, but been busy with work and my own version of the alcoholic shenanigans in the last chapter :-)**

**I've also been struggling with the plot climax of this story, so this chapter puts off addressing that for a few more days!**

* * *

Later on that day, Clara wandered down to Eleven's room and knocked on the door.

"How are you feeling Doctor? I brought you a cup of tea."

"Thank you. Better than before, but still pretty rough. That was some night, how much did I drink?"

"Oh, enough."

"Did I do anything embarrassing?"

"No, well apart from your dancing, and that started when you were sober!"

"There's nothing wrong with my dancing!" Eleven replied with a pained expression, which then changed to concern.

"But, er did I _say_ anything embarrassing? Something I might regret later?"

"You said nothing that you should regret" Clara replied with a slight smile. "Indeed you said something that you perhaps ought to say again when sober."

And she walked off, leaving a puzzled Eleven behind.

An hour later Eleven emerged to look for Clara, and found her in the kitchen.

"Oh, hello Doctor, I thought that as I had a quiet day, I'd try to make a soufflé, as a treat for the other Doctor and Donna. To show them that I truly am soufflé girl."

"That's nice of you. Er, I said something last night didn't I, something important, but er what was it?"

"I can't say."

"Any chance of hints or a reminder?"

"No. I thought you had a perfect memory, and could remember everything?"

"Unfortunately, alcohol rather affects that bit of the brain."

"Well, think of something that you might say to me, something that you would like to tell me, but you just can't bring yourself to say, that after a few drinks has loosened your tongue, you might say to me."

"Ah."

"Is that the sound of your brains working?"

"Yes…Clara."

"Yes?"

"I, er I, I think, I think I…Clara, your soufflé's burning!"

"What! Argghhhhh" Clara wailed in frustration at both the ruined soufflé, and the excuse it gave the Doctor to change the subject.

"Next time, I'll get it right" Clara exclaimed, and she wasn't just referring to the soufflé.

"Let's find the others, now that this soufflé is ruined" she continued, "See what's going down in TARDIS town."

Clara and Eleven wandered over and knocked on the door of the other TARDIS, which Donna answered.

"Oh hello, was about to come over to see what you've been doing. It's been dead boring here, with the Doctor moping around like a right misery guts."

"I'm not moping!" came the voice of Ten from inside.

"He's been moping" continued Donna, "Normally he's like the Duracell bunny, but today his batteries are all flat."

"Did you just compare me to a toy rabbit?"

"It's been quiet inside our TARDIS as well" replied Clara. "I tried a bit of baking, while chinboy slept off his hangover. I thought I'd make a nice soufflé for our tea, but sadly it didn't come out quite right after I was interrupted at the key moment."

Clara glared at Eleven.

"So fancy popping out for a bite?"

"Sounds good to me" said Donna. "What about you two boys?"

"I might give it a miss" replied Ten who had finally emerged.

"Not that hungry myself" added Eleven.

"Just us girls then" replied Donna. "Looking forward to swapping stories about our Doctors then. All the juicy bits, the embarrassing moments, those little secrets."

"Might meet someone nice when we're out also" added Clara. "One of those guys you were dancing with last night, perhaps."

"On second thoughts" mumbled Eleven, "Perhaps we will join you."

"Yeah" added Ten, "It would be a bit antisocial of us to stay behind."

"Great!" replied Clara squeezing Eleven's hand, "See you all in ten minutes. Donna, your Doctor still looks a bit green, maybe you should give him hair of the dog?"

"I'm not eating dog hair!" replied an indignant Ten.

Ten minutes later the four of them wandered into town, to investigate the eating options.

"3D pizza!" exclaimed Donna. "What's that?"

"Just like any other pizza" explained Eleven, "But instead of being boring and flat like an earth pizza, it's in 3D. Indeed, I've heard stories that somebody had developed a 12D pizza, but I'm sceptical."

"Sounds good to me" replied Clara. "Let's go in, I wonder what sort of toppings they have?"

"The usual I'd imagine for this part of the universe. Ham, pepperoni, tuna, cyrian slug, muggle worms, Amplatan sparrow beaks, that sort of thing."

"Amplatan sparrow beaks?" exclaimed Donna. "People eat sparrow beaks here?"

"Yes, they are crunched up finely, quite a local delicacy aren't they skinny?"

"Might give them a miss, all the same" replied Ten. "Probably not good for my constitution today…"

Inside the four of them found a table and ordered the least exotic pizzas they could find, and soft drinks only…

"Look, over there" spoke Donna in a low voice, "Isn't that the King of Churru? I recognise him from his photo in the paper."

"You're right" replied Clara. "Fancy seeing him in a pizza restaurant, I'd have thought he'd be tucking in to something grander."

"I think things are economically tough in Churru" suggested Ten, "Just as things are bad here in Tirumba. And he might like pizza of course; ten course banquets can get a bit boring after a while."

Much to their surprise, the King then came over to talk to them.

"I recognise visitors not from these worlds" spoke the King. "You must be the Doctors, I've heard all about you."

"Just these two your highness" replied Donna pointing to Ten and Eleven. "I don't think the world is ready for Doctor Donna yet! Us two are humans."

"Tomorrow is a very important day for me and the Churru people, we need to resolve the ridiculous arguments about the gold project, as there are paxybostalite mines lying dormant back home, and we need the revenue. Will you be attending the talks?"

"I don't think we'll be in the _actual_ negotiations" replied Eleven carefully, "But we'll be around in case we can be of any assistance."

"I'm glad to hear it, we need some outside help to bang a few heads together. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and will leave you to your meal. Have you ordered the sparrow beak pizza? It's lovely; I always have it here when I'm passing. It adds a lovely crunch to the pizza."

"I don't think we did" replied Ten.

"That's terrible! This place is famous for their sparrow beak pizza, it would be a crime not to try it."

The King then shouted across to his table.

"Bring over a slice of sparrow beak pizza, oh and a piece of the rat brain pizza as well."

One of the King's minions brought them over.

"So who's going to try it first?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Ladies first" smiled Eleven. "I wouldn't want to deprive them of this opportunity, they are after all humans, so haven't been exposed to such famous delicacies."

"Tuck in" added Ten, "Don't feel obliged to save us anything, as I'm sure you'll want to gobble it all up."

Donna looked nervous, while Clara just glared at Eleven in a manner that made him wonder if eating the rat brain pizza would be less unpleasant than what would follow the meal, but there was no getting out of it.

"Ok, here goes" spoke Donna weakly as she nibbled a small piece of the sparrow beak pizza, and desperately tried not to grimace as she crunched on a bit of beak before swallowing and uttering an unconvincing "Nice".

Watching this, Clara then took a bite of rat brain pizza, which was vile. She chewed a bit and tried to swallow, and couldn't. She desperately wanted to spit it out, but couldn't as she didn't want to offend the King. Then she realised the solution.

Gently saying "Thank you Doctor" she turned to Eleven, and much to everyone's surprise kissed him full on the lips, a big sloppy kiss, during which she managed (out of view from the rest of the table) to expel the offending piece of half chewed pizza into Eleven's mouth. She then pulled away with a smile, leaving a shocked table, and Eleven desperately trying not to gag.

"I think I'll leave you lovebirds to it" smiled the King. "The night is young, it must be lovely to be young and in love again." And he walked away.

"I hope he doesn't think _we're_ in love" exclaimed a horrified Donna. "And why's your chinboy rushing to the bathroom? Is your kissing that bad Clara?"

"Yes, when it contains rat brain pizza!"

* * *

**I'm sure I'll be nice to Eleven before the end of this story, but this time I think he deserved what he got :-)**

**All reviews very welcome**


	10. Push me too far

**Another chapter! I never expected this story to be as long as its become, but it's taken on a life of its own! Quite a long chapter too, the start of this chapter is quite fluffy and follows on from the rat brain pizza incident, but the ending of the chapter is a bit different as I wanted to explore a different side of Eleven...**

* * *

The four of them left the restaurant after the meal, having managed to avoid eating any more of the offending pizza, and politely turned down the waiter's offer of making them a doggy bag. On the way home Clara turned to Eleven.

"Sorry about that, but you have to admit it was a cool plan!"

"That was truly horrible."

"Are my kisses that bad?"

"They are when I get a mouthful of half chewed rat brain pizza!"

"So you liked the first bit then?"

"Well it was, er, it wasn't unpleasant."

"You _sure_ know how to flatter a girl don't you!"

"Ok, it was very nice."

"That's better chinboy. And next time, I'll make sure my mouth is empty first."

"Next time?"

"Maybe" Clara smiled, before going off to talk to Donna.

Once back outside the TARDISes, Donna turned to the Doctors.

"So what exactly will we be doing tomorrow? We're not in the negotiations, are we just going to hang around outside in case we're required?"

"I guess so" replied Ten. "I'm not sure how the Emperor of Amplatan will react to us though, seeing that chinny here was his sort of prisoner, and in the process of releasing him we also released the two girls, who were _definitely_ his prisoners. He might not be too pleased to see us."

"Yes, that's a bit tricky."

"Perhaps it would make things easier if we gave chinny back to him, as a sign of good faith."

"Eh?" spluttered Eleven, "I'm not going back into captivity, thank you very much."

"Well you'll have to keep a low profile then."

"Sounds fine to me. Clara and I can do a bit of snooping while you and Donna try and get involved in the main negotiations."

Ten yawned. "Ok. See you tomorrow. I'm too old for nights like last night. Once you get past 600, then cocoa and a game of chess are more your scene."

* * *

The next morning Ten and Donna walked up the gates of the Emir's Palace, where they were let in and led to an ante room next to where the negotiations were taking place. In this room were various assistants and advisors, working for the various parties. After a while the main players finally arrived. Both the King of Churru and the Emir of Tirumba greeted them as they walked through the room, and noting the absence of Eleven and Clara, the former suggested that the "absent young lovers" probably had better things to do. By contrast, the Emperor of Amplatan merely glared at them accusingly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eleven and Clara were loitering around the back of the building.

"So what's the plan then" asked Clara.

"You know what I say about plans!"

"Yes, you don't have them. But you must have some idea what we're going to do today, as hanging around outside the building is going to get a bit repetitive. I give it 15 minutes before you start driving me up the wall."

Ten minutes later, their wait was interrupted by the sight of Warea and Pilumu approaching them.

"Good to see you guys" enthused Eleven, "What are you doing here?"

In a whisper Pilumu replied "We're here to watch the negotiations. The Emir wanted someone to keep a secret eye on proceedings, and it's possible to do that from a small ventilation shaft above the room. It's a steep climb, so they needed volunteers fairly young and agile to get up there. Fancy joining us?"

"Is 1200 years old, young enough?" sniggered Clara.

"Oi cheeky! Besides this body is _much_ younger than that" replied Eleven, "And in perfect fettle. We'd definitely like to join you. The other Doctor and Donna are in the Palace, though not in the actual negotiations. We felt it was better I wasn't there, after my previous escape from the Emperor."

"Excellent, the back entrance to the Palace is here. I don't think anyone here trusts the Emperor of Amplatan, we're all pretty united on that front."

The four of them reached the back entrance, where Pilumu explained to the guards that the Doctor and Clara would also be joining them. All four were given passes and led to a tight service passage, along which they found the steep and narrow metal spiral staircase that would lead them above the main room. Pilumu led the way, followed by Warea, Eleven and Clara. This brought back memories for Eleven of Victorian Clara climbing his own spiral staircase behind him, and what had happened to her. Clara noticed Eleven looking a bit sombre.

"What's wrong Doctor?"

"Sorry, oh er nothing, it's just that climbing this staircase reminds me of climbing the staircase to the TARDIS with Victorian Clara, and what happened to her. Even though I now know why she did what she did, the thought of losing her still pains me, as it was my fault she died. My fault."

Eleven bowed his head.

"Doctor", replied Clara, "Thanks to you, billions of lives have been saved, galaxies exist that would have been destroyed, you've done so much good, and will continue to go amazing things, please don't blame yourself for what happened then."

Eleven took Clara by the hand.

"Thank you Clara, I'm never going to lose you again, I promise. I will always protect you."

At the top, another narrow ventilation passage led to a small grill that overlooked the tall room where the negotiations would take place, but from a considerable height above the participants. There was only room for one person to comfortably look through the grill, though by squeezing close together, all four of them could get a partial view. Warea and Pilumu squeezed together on one side of the grill, with Clara and Eleven on the other. Getting the positioning right proved a bit tricky; luckily there was nobody in the room below yet to hear the occasional ouches and sniggers.

Eventually the participants entered the room below. From on high, the four of them watched as the Emperor of Amplatan, King of Churru and Emir of Tirumba, together with their key aides tried to come to an agreement on how to split the revenue and profits from the production of gold. It was painful to watch, as the Emperor of Amplatan was in no mood for compromise; he wanted the vast majority of the profits, and wasn't prepared to give any ground. After an hour they broke up for a much needed break, and left the room.

* * *

While these negotiations had been taking place, Ten and Donna had been patiently waiting in the ante room.

"It's quite exciting this" enthused Donna. "I'm not used to being so near the seat of power!"

"The novelty will quickly wear off" wearily replied Ten. "These meetings invariably achieve nothing, except lots of hot air. A long time ago when I was grounded, I worked for UNIT, and a lot of my time was spent dealing with politicians and military people; give me Daleks any day!"

"Well it will be good if they can come to a sensible agreement, and I'm happy to offer the services of Donna Noble, the best temp in Chiswick. Some of us are used to working at a desk!"

During the break, the participants all left the negotiations to talk to their advisers, who had been waiting patiently in the ante room. The Emir of Tirumba had a quick word with Ten and Donna in passing.

"A complete disaster, The Emperor is being completely unreasonable. I don't understand what's gone wrong over there, the Amplatans used to be such reasonable and peaceful people, but since he took charge it's been completely different."

* * *

Back upstairs, the four took the opportunity of the break to stretch their legs.

"This all looks pretty futile" mused Eleven to Warea. "There seems no possibility of a deal unless the Tirumbans and Chirruns give in to the Emperor's demands, which are completely ridiculous."

"It does look that way. We may be desperate to get production under way again, but cannot give in to his demands. It's our process, we can't let the Amplatans take all the profit."

After a few minutes the main protagonists re-entered the room, and the four of them resumed their places around the grill. However they had only settled down for a few minutes when…

"Don't move! What do you think you are doing here? Spying on us I presume."

It was two Amplatan guards.

"You four will come with us" continued the first guard. And yes, these guns do have live ammunition. The Emperor will be fascinated to hear your explanation."

"But how did you know we were here?" queried Pilumu weakly.

"We have our spies. Of course we won't reveal our sources, as now you'll think everyone is a spy for us!" he laughed.

The four were marched back down the spiral staircase, and along a different corridor to the main entrance area, where they passed through the ante room past the horrified Ten and Donna, and into the main negotiation room.

"Come on, we're going in" announced Ten, and he and Donna also entered the room.

"Your Excellency" spoke the guard, "We have caught these four individuals spying on the negotiations. Your hunch was correct, you were right to not trust the Emir of Tirumba."

"That's a disgraceful slur on my character, and on our planet" replied the Emir. "And what gives you the right to send armed guards snooping around MY palace. This is a disgrace."

"I cannot take the risk when entering enemy territory, of not taking sensible security precautions , and as it happens one of these four is a convicted criminal on my planet. Luckily we caught them, and can rearrest her. We have international law on our side, and you know it."

"She's innocent, it was a stitch up" cried out Tirumu.

"She's no risk to anyone" added Eleven. "Let her go, you know it wasn't a fair trial, all we want is for the negotiations to come to a successful conclusion, so that all three planets can share in the wealth."

"Enough of your meddling Doctor. You think you are so clever and powerful, but you are powerless and pathetic. You need to keep your nose out of other people's business."

Sensing Eleven needed support, Clara held his arm. Eleven smiled weakly back, he appreciated the gesture but felt really useless and impotent. Clara squeezed his hand, but sensed Eleven was a beaten man, something she had never seen before. The rearrest of Warea was a crushing blow to him.

"Warea will be taken back to captivity in Amplatan, though this time we might not be so generous and allow her to work in the guest suite. You do have an eye for a pretty girl, don't you Doctor, a shame for you that you lost Warea, but you still have Clara on your arm don't you. Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to her?"

Suddenly something switched inside Eleven.

"WHAT?"

"Well, you and Clara seem quite close, I'd hate it for something to happen, and Clara to get hurt in some way. That would be a real tragedy."

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN HER THAT WAY" Eleven bellowed out.

Something inside him had switched, the resignation that her had been feeling had now turned into blind rage. Whether it was just due to his feelings about Clara, or was also about his guilt for the loss of Victorian Clara and subsequent pledge to protect _his_ Clara, was something he would ponder later on.

"If you or one of your slimy cohorts so much as lay a finger on her, I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL. I admit there'll be consequences if I do it, but what the hell, I don't care any more. Somebody else can pick up the pieces, I'm fed up of doing that job. Indeed, WHY SHOULDN'T I START NOW! I've fought far bigger enemies than you; I could wipe you out, and would take so much pleasure in doing so. Your defeat would resonate across the universe, and be a byword for failure, with generations laughing at your name."

Eleven took a deep breath, and continued in a quieter voice.

"I won't though, because I'm The Doctor, and I don't do that sort of thing. But push me too far, and I'LL BREAK THE PROMISE, the promise that controls how I should behave, because what have I got to lose now?"

While this was happening, Ten was gently shaking his head to try to get Eleven to calm down. He understood exactly how Eleven felt, but knew himself all too well, and the dangers of what might happen when pushed to the limit, and the Doctor bypassing the moral codes that governed him throughout the rest of his existence.

Clara was stunned by Eleven's outburst. This wasn't the silly chinboy she knew, and yes loved, but someone darker, more sinister and yes, a bit scary, but at the same time massively impressive and awe inspiring. She could see how this strange, yet wonderful man, could have achieved so much in his lives, and inspired such devotion. And the fact that the outburst and change in mood was entirely triggered by a threat to her filled her heart with great pride and fear. At that moment Clara realised what Eleven's true feelings for her were.

The slightly shaken Emperor of Amplatan turned to the guards and instructed them to remove Warea. Nobody tried to stop them, as international law was on his side, and trying to stop them might have made things worse. He then turned to Eleven and Clara.

"Goodbye. I er apologise for my last remark." He then walked out of the room, followed by his remaining advisers.

Eleven and Clara silently hugged, tears rolling down both of their faces, while all around them the meeting broke up and everyone left the room except for Ten and Donna, and a devastated Tirumu.

* * *

**While I love the silly Matt Smith Doctor, there is a darker side to him that very occasionally comes out, so I've been meaning to write something in this vein for a while now, especially with less than 2 weeks to go :-(**

**It's also occurred to me that Clara has never seen the dark side of Eleven, his last real outburst being in _A Town Called Mercy, _so for a short period in this story her chinboy will be a bit different, before the usual fluff and silliness return! **


	11. I'm sorry

**Apologies for the slight delay before producing this chapter, but I was having creative differences with myself :-)**

**This chapter advances the plot significantly, hence my prevarications about how to write it!**

* * *

With Eleven and Clara still both upset, it was Ten who spoke first.

"Tirumu, you have my word, our word, we'll get Warea back. I've got an idea what's going on, oh yes, and we've got to stop the Emperor of Amplatan leaving this planet". He quickly left the room, with the other following on behind him. Out in the ante room Ten spotted the Emir of Tirumba, deep in discussion with one of his aides.

"Your Excellency" asked Ten, "Where will the Emperor's spaceship have been parked? Do you have a special place for your guests?"

"Yes" replied the Emir, "it's a special royal spaceport, where all honoured guests can land. You go out of the main entrance and to the right."

"Thank you, we may just be in time to pay him a visit."

And with that Ten rushed out of the door, followed at a distance by the others. Ten ran across the ground towards the spaceport, where what he presumed was the Emperor of Amplatan's craft was waiting.

"That must be his craft, we're going on board."

"Are you mad?" replied Donna who, along with the others, had caught Ten up. "They'll arrest us as well."

"We need to stop him leaving. I've got a hunch what's going on."

He turned to Eleven, who was slowly regaining his composure.

"Chinny, everyone else is really puzzled why the Emperor of Amplatan is acting so unreasonably, and is making demands that are unacceptable to the others, when the planet is well known for being very reasonable and peaceful. They all think it's because he trying to keep all the profits from the gold process for himself, and as a result there's stalemate, with production grinding to a halt. But what if that's not the case? What if he's actually trying to _sabotage_ the gold making process?"

"But why would he want to do that?"

"Maybe he's being controlled by something else. Something else that would be very pleased to stop the production of gold."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes. Cybermen. I was studying him, and couldn't see an earpod, but there could be something attached to him under his clothing, as the people here have a different neurological system to humans."

"Of course, good thinking sandshoes. Cybermen hate gold, and the last thing they would want is a bountiful supply of cheap gold flooding the market."

"Exactly. Even if some recent Cybermen are more resistant to gold than they used to be, they still don't like it, it badly affects their breathing."

"It's the perfect way to sabotage the gold production process; they only need to control one key individual, as being the Emperor, the rest of the Amplatan people will be obeying his instructions."

"Something is transmitting to him, to control his actions. We need to block that. Do you think our sonics would work from here into the craft?"

"I don't think so. Too far, we need to get on board."

"Right come on chinny, no time to lose."

"You three stay here, we'll be right back."

"But Doctors" replied Clara, "I want to help, I'm sure we all want to help."

"Too risky" responded Eleven. "After all that the Emperor said, I'm not doing anything that will put you in danger Clara. You're too precious to me." Eleven gently stroked Clara on the cheek.

Clara felt a warm feeling at those comments, but at the same time was worried that Eleven wouldn't allow her to do _anything_ in future. And as she recalled from the events at Trenzalore, this wasn't a one way process, and she needed to be there to save him as well as the other way round.

"Compromise then, we'll be outside the craft, ready to board when necessary."

"Ok" replied Eleven slightly reluctantly. "Let's go."

Ten and Eleven hurried off to the craft, with the other three following slowly on behind them.

"I wish we could do more to help" sighed Clara.

"I know the feeling" replied Donna. "I know he's trying to protect us, but sometimes it's him that needs the protecting. It must be hard, the number of people he's lost, people he's cared for, even loved. It's taken my Doctor a long time to get over the loss of Rose, deep down I'm sure he still wishes she was still with him. Instead he's stuck with a mouthy temp from Chiswick!"

"I'm sure he doesn't think like that! You two make a great team."

Ten and Eleven reached the main entrance of the craft. Before they could attempt to open the door, it opened and they were greeted by a guard.

"What do you want?"

"We need to speak to the Emperor" replied Ten. "It's important."

"Well I doubt he'll want to speak to you. I saw what happened in the Palace. And if you're trying to get the girl back, then forget it."

"The Emperor" Eleven spoke carefully, "Does he seem, erm, normal to you? Has his behaviour changed in any way, from what it used to be perhaps?"

"He's just the same as ever. Though thinking about it, he used to get on really well with the Emir and King, they used to meet up all the time, play space golf, Chirru has got some great courses. He _has_ changed, now I think about it, he seems a lot less happy than he used to be."

"And, when did things start changing?" replied Ten.

"Around six months ago I think."

"Did he had any unusual visitors around that time, or did he go anywhere unusual perhaps?"

"He's always travelling around, especially since the gold process was announced a year ago, he's quite famous now. Lots of appearances at conferences and trade meetings."

"Your Emperor, I'm afraid, may be in severe danger" Ten replied solemnly, "Indeed it may be too late. If my hunch is correct, something terrible has happened to him."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because you know something's wrong. All we're asking is to be allowed inside to address the Emperor."

"Well all right, any funny business and you'll be shot dead on the spot."

The guard called down one of his colleagues, and both Doctors were given a thorough body search. Satisfied, they were then led onto the ship, and escorted to an impressive lounge area where the Emperor was sitting.

"Your Excellency" announced the guard, "The Doctors are here to see you."

"Oh what now, why haven't you arrested them?"

"They have something important to say to you."

Ten looked solemnly at the Emperor.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He and Eleven then got out their sonics and aimed them at the Emperor, who screamed and collapsed to the floor.

"What have you done?" cried out the guard as he pointed his gun at the Doctors, while one of the Emperor's assistants rushed to his aid.

"It wasn't us" replied Ten calmly. "The Emperor has been dead for a long time. If you search his body, you should find a receiver device."

It didn't take the assistant long to find the device, which was at the top of his back.

"May I please" asked Ten, and as the guard put his gun down, Ten walked over to the Emperor, and pulled the device out. It was attached to long cords which went up towards where the brain would have been, as inside he was largely hollow.

The watching guards and assistants recoiled in horror at what they saw, several broke down in tears.

"What happened to him, I don't understand" one blurted out.

"I'm afraid he got attacked by Cybermen" replied a sad Eleven. "They did a partial conversion on him, keeping his existing body, as it was the perfect disguise, but destroying his brain, his essence. They've been controlling him, and using him to sabotage the gold production process. "

"Oh god, you were right" replied the first guard. "But what about us, what about our planet, what will happen to us?"

"I'm not 100% sure" explained Ten, "But I suspect that they only took over the Emperor, as by controlling him, they could effectively control the whole of Amplatan, and its role in the gold production. Thus, everyone else is likely to be fine. As for the planet, well it has beautiful scenery, and is full of lovely oxybortalite. I'm sure that the three planets can now come to a new agreement, and I look forward to buying some nice gold from here soon."

"I'm sure the other two planets will be very happy to help" continued Eleven, "Now that they know what really happened to your Emperor, and why his personality changed so much. Indeed, I think we should go and tell them straight away, as this changes everything."

"Thank you Doctors" replied one of the assistants, "This has been a dark period for our people, hopefully we can move on now."

"Oh, and one final thing" replied Eleven, "I believe you are holding a prisoner, and we would very much like her back. _Right now_ if you don't mind."

"Of course" replied the first guard who hurried off to a locked room, and returned soon after with Warea, who had clearly been very upset, but was otherwise unharmed.

"You're free to go."

Warea rushed across to the Doctors, and tearfully hugged them.

"We will leave you to it" spoke Ten, "You have a lot to do. Good bye."

"Goodbye Doctors"

The three of them walked out of the craft, to be met by the waiting Clara, Donna and Tirumu. Tirumu and Warea broke down in an emotional hug, Eleven and Clara embraced each other tenderly, while a grinning Ten high fived with Donna.

"It's all over now" explained Ten. "We broke the Cyber link, and what remained of the Emperor collapsed dead. It was quite a clever plan, to use him to sabotage the new gold making process, as nobody would question an absolute leader. It's quite dangerous really, having one almighty leader, someone that everyone obeys, someone with all the power, someone with all the answers."

"I know" relied Donna, "Which is why we don't let you get too big for your boots, spaceman!"

* * *

**I hope that made some sort of logical sense, my plan was always to finish this story before Christmas Day (and you know what) and I think I might achieve that now...**

**Ten came to the fore in this chapter, I like to be fair in my treatment of the Doctors :-)**


	12. Nothing to regret

**The final chapter. Happily I've got all the plot out of the way, so can concentrate on an emotional ending, with a final bit of sillyness along the way :-)**

* * *

The happy group hurried back to the Emir's palace to tell him the news. The Emir was shocked and very sad for the Emperor, but relieved in a way that the person who had been so strange and unpleasant during the previous six months wasn't his old friend. The King of Churru was still in the Emir's palace, so they were able to tell him as well.

Once they had finished, they left the Palace. It was Eleven who spoke first.

"I guess this is goodbye. You two have lives to lead, and I think it's safe for us to go."

"Oh, but why won't you stay" asked Warea. "Surely a celebration is in order?"

"No, I think we should be making a move."

Clara looked disappointed.

"But don't think that this is the last you've seen of us" Eleven added, winking at Ten.

"We both have time machines, so we might be back again to find out how things are going" added Ten.

"How about this time next year?" continued Eleven, looking at his watch. "The 11th of August."

"Sounds good!" replied Warea.

"Hopefully we'll really have something to celebrate by then! We'll land in the same place, 10 am say" added a happy Ten.

"So see you next year then" cried out a happy Warea, and she and Tirumu walked off.

The other starting walking back to the TARDISes, then Eleven suddenly remembered something and ran off, shouting that he'd catch them up. He got to Warea and Tirumu, had a quiet word with them, then ran back to the puzzled Ten, Clara and Donna.

"What was all that about chinboy?" asked Clara.

"Were you asking them to have some sparrow beak pizza ready for us" laughed Donna.

"Something like that. A small favour for when we return."

"Well, I'll see you in a year then" replied Ten.

"And you too"

On board his TARDIS, Ten explained to Donna how landing at an exact time was a true test on how well a Doctor could control his TARDIS, while on his TARDIS Eleven had the same conversation with Clara, and how important it was for to be the nearest to 10am. Both Donna and Clara had similar reactions…

At 9:58 Ten landed his TARDIS down in the correct spot, and with a fist pump celebrated arriving within two minutes of 10am.

"Within two minutes, oh yes!"

He then opened the door of the TARDIS.

"Chinny's not here yet, he's got two minutes to go, or else he'll be late." He then put his hands together, and started praying under his breath.

"Please be late, please be late, go on please be late" until Donna interrupted him.

"Grow up spaceman! Honestly, you two are like a pair of children."

At 10:01 Eleven landed his TARDIS, and burst out of the door, followed by Clara to see Ten and Donna waiting there.

"So, what time did you land then?" he asked.

"Bang on 10 o'clock" Ten lied.

"9:58 actually" Donna corrected.

"So I'm the nearest then! 10:01, who da man!"

"You're late chinny" replied Ten, "Therefore I win. Punctuality is all important, and you're here _after_ 10 o'clock. Looooser!"

"No" complained Eleven, "It's the nearest to 10 than wins. You can't change the rules, just because you lost."

"Boys" interrupted Clara, "Can you continue this conversation in the playground, I do believe we have some visitors waiting to meet us."

Ten and Eleven turned around to see Warea and Tirumu waiting patiently for them.

"Oh, er sorry" mumbled Eleven, then regaining his composure cried out "How are you" as Warea and Tirumu ran over to hug them.

"Things are really great here" enthused Tirumu, "You won't recognise the factory, we're struggling to keep up with production now. It's full steam ahead."

Warea and Tirumu took them to the factory, where as he had said, production levels had shot up. They then went over to talk to the Emir of Tirumba, who explained what had happened.

"After the shocking death of the Emperor of Amplatan, everyone was stunned, but pulled together. His son took over as Emperor, and the first thing he did was organise a new conference to resolve our differences on gold production, which went really well, hence the factory here is really buzzing. The three planets share the profits evenly, everyone is happy. We're about to start building a new hospital and some much needed new housing with the revenue. We're very grateful for your help in this matter, and would love to honour you in a special reception. "

"We would love to accept" replied Ten.

"It would be an honour" added Eleven.

"Excellent" replied the Emir, "It will be at the Palace tonight at 7pm. I assumed you would be coming, so all the invites went out last week! Everyone will be here, and we've laid on some exotic local treats."

"Lovely" replied Clara with a forced smile on her face.

"We'll be looking forward to trying them" added Donna equally unconvincingly.

Everyone made an effort for the evening, Clara picked out a slinky dress, Donna found a nice hat in the TARDIS wardrobe, while Ten and Eleven both wore their black tie evening suits.

"I only wear these tails on special occasions" Eleven explained to Clara. "There was Amy and Rory's wedding, which was cool, and then there was the occasion when River tried to murder me in front of Hitler, which was definitely not cool."

"River tried to kill you? You mean River, as in your ex wife?"

"Yes, but it wasn't her fault, she was brought up to kill me. It was a poisonous kiss."

"No wonder you flinch so much when I try to kiss you! But don't worry you're _totally_ safe with me. Well apart from the rat brain pizza, oops."

The four of them arrived at the Palace, and were led into the state dining room, where they were seated at the top table. The leaders of the three planets were all there, plus all of their friends from their time in this region.

"Wow, this is grand" enthused Donna.

"I wonder what will be on the menu?" replied Clara.

"I was hoping you wouldn't remind me."

After the toasts with the local sparkling wine - not a bad bouquet Ten commented - the Emir of Tirumba stood up.

"That we are here today, our three planets all united in one goal, is thanks to these four people, the two Doctors and their beautiful companions."

"Smoothy" whispered Donna to Clara with a smile.

"And in honour of our special guests, for the first course, we will be serving a real delicacy, something only eaten in this galaxy on special occasions."

Clara and Donna exchanged nervous glances.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be serving Fish Fingers and Custard."

Eleven beamed, while the others were stunned.

"See Clara, I told you they were good. Such a great combination."

"It just sounds wrong to me."

"I'm sure they can fix you up some rat brain pizza if you prefer" replied Eleven with a smile. "And no kissing me afterwards either."

"You're no fun!"

The fish fingers and custard were served, with Eleven gobbling his down and asking for a second helping, while the other three politely finished their portions.

"And now" announced the Emir, "The main course, another exotic dish, which we only have on special occasions. Roast Chicken and potatoes, with carrots."

"I don't know whether to be disappointed or relieved" whispered Clara to Donna as the rest of the room all gasped at this exotic (to them) fare.

Once the meal was finished, the floor was cleared and a band struck up some music. Everyone piled on to the dance floor.

"This is a dignified occasion" explained Clara to Eleven, "So none of your wild dancing here. Can't you just, well glide around like Ten is doing with the King of Churru's daughter."

Eleven looked a bit fed up as he watched Ten do an elegant waltz, and reluctantly attempted to follow suit with Clara, as he didn't want to disappoint her. After a few minutes, their dancing was interrupted by the King of Churru.

"What's wrong Doctor? I've heard all about your fantastic dancing, and yet all you're doing is this boring earth dancing like the other Doctor is doing. Let yourself go and enjoy yourself!"

Eleven needed no further invitation, and with a massive grin he launched himself on the dance floor, and gave everyone a full repertoire of his moves. Clara looked on with a mixture of horror and admiration, his alienness was what made him so simultaneously weird and also so wonderful. Not that she had much time to ponder such matters, as soon she was being dragged around the dance floor, when Eleven wasn't dancing with Donna, Warea and Tumea who had also been invited.

Soon the night was drawing to a close, and the final slow dance was about to begin. Seeing Clara and Eleven dancing together, cheek to cheek, Donna grabbed Ten from some minor Royal he'd been chatting up, and dragged him out onto the dance floor.

"You're going to dance with me spaceman if it kills me! I'm not being left here my myself, not with those two canoodling next to us."

As the dance ended, Eleven spoke to Clara.

"Clara, there's something I need to say to you."

"Yes?" Clara's heart leapt.

"Something, I've been meaning to say for _such_ a long time, but just, well can't."

"Doctor?"

"I'm sorry Clara, but I can't say it. I so want to, but the words won't come out."

"Don't worry Doctor" Clara replied, trying to sound understanding, when inside she was devastated.

"However, I've bought you a little something."

He produced a necklace, with a pendant on it.

"It's beautiful Doctor."

"It's made from the local gold, I wanted you to have a memory of this adventure."

"Thank you Doctor, that's a lovely thought" Clara replied and kissed him on the cheek.

"There's some writing on the back. As I said, there's something I just can't bring myself to say. So I had it engraved instead."

Clara read the writing, and recoiled in shock. Her face was a mixture of astonishment and pleasure. Then she and Eleven kissed, a long and passionate kiss, the two of them oblivious to everyone else in the room. There were no secrets between them now, no denials of their true feelings for each other.

"That's lovely" Donna whispered to Ten. "It's not hard to guess what the writing on the pendant said, it's great that he's finally told her!"

"I never told her" replied Ten.

"I'm sorry?"

"I never told Rose, I just couldn't spit the words out." A tear fell down his cheek. "I guess we Timelords are just no good at that sort of thing."

Donna hugged him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she knows."

"Thanks, I just wish I had another chance to do things differently, that I could go back and tell her properly. In a way, I guess chinny has learnt from my mistakes, so that's a small consolation."

After saying their farewells to everyone, the four of them left the Palace to walk back to the TARDISes. It was a quiet walk back, as Eleven and Clara were happy to just be together, while Ten was deep in thought. Once outside, they all embraced.

"I think this is farewell then" spoke Eleven. "Time to reset the timelines, time to return to normal."

"Indeed" replied Ten. "It's been a pleasure to work with you two again. And Doctor" he turned to Eleven, "I'm glad that you managed to do what I could never manage."

"We really shouldn't be meeting like this" commented Eleven. "It's bad for the timelines and potentially dangerous."

Ten nodded.

"But it was rather good fun as well!" Eleven exclaimed.

"It would be _such_ a shame if we accidentally bumped into each other again in the future" laughed Donna.

"I'll just get Clara to choose the date, that's what happened this time."

"Don't blame me" replied an indignant Clara, "Blame your silly snogbox!"

"I don't know why" smirked Donna, "But something tells me that your TARDIS will _definitely_ be a snogbox tonight!"

Clara blushed.

"And on that note" laughed Ten, "I think it's _definitely_ time to say goodbye. And leave you two alone at last!"

Back on his TARDIS, Clara turned to Eleven.

"Something the other Doctor said just now, what was it that you managed to do that he didn't?"

"I managed to tell somone, someone that I care about very much, how I truly feel about her, whereas he, he never managed it, and is still in regret about it."

"Well I'm glad you've got nothing to regret now."

And they kissed again.

Fin.

* * *

**The end. That last chapter was a bit emotional, a nice happy ending for Eleven and Clara, and sad memories for Ten. ****I was keen to finish this story before Christmas Day before we get to see the end of Eleven and Clara :-(**

**Thank you for reading this to the end. Until next time :-)**


End file.
